The attorney for one of the nine suspects charged in a 2006 deadly shooting at a Carrollton mobile home park is awaiting a decision from the Georgia Supreme Court that could not only affect three others who were given life sentences in the case, but potentially impact thousands of other criminal cases across the state.

Attorney Gary Washington, who represents Cody Buchanan, 21, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of a handgun by a person under the age of 18 in the case, said the Supreme Court continues to weigh in on whether it is a conflict of interest to have Attorney General Thurbert Baker serve the dual role of representing both the state in the capital trial and the attorneys working with the Public Defender Standards Council defending the same indigent clients.

Carroll County Superior Court Judge Dennis Blackmon ruled in July 2008 that the attorney general be disqualified from the case, and on March 9, the PDSC appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.

In 2007, the PDSC moved from the judicial branch of the state government to the executive branch, under which the attorney general’s office falls.

Why this decision by the Supreme Court is so important, Washington said, is that if the court decides to uphold the lower court’s ruling, then any criminal defendant charged with a capital offense since the PDSC moved into the executive branch could have their case overturned.

“There could be hundreds or there could be thousands of cases across the state,” he said. “It’s hard to know how many.”

At least three of those cases include Marcus Tyrone Oliphant, 20, LaBryan “Brian” Lytle, 19, and Randall “Boots” Laye, 20, who were all sentenced to life sentences after conviction in a capital-offense trial, according to Washington.

Buchanan, Oliphant, Lytle, Laye, Aerius “Pete” Potts, 19, Christopher “C-Weezy” Coleman, 21, Arlandra “Red” Deonta Holland, 19, Chad Lamont Ackey, 21, and Varion “Snoopy” Shell, 18, were arrested and initially charged with murder, aggravated assault and armed robbery in connection with the July 19, 2006, shooting at the Elizabeth Village mobile home park.

Police said Paola Cavarias Vergara, 35, died from a gunshot wound that penetrated her mobile home. A 9-year-old girl Vergara was baby-sitting at the time of the shooting and Vergara’s brother-in-law were also wounded in the gunfire that erupted outside the home.

Buchanan was the last of the teens charged to either plead guilty in the case or face a jury trial. Washington said his client entered a plea and received first offender status after 16 of the 17 charges were dropped by the Carroll County District Attorney’s Office in the plea offer.

All felony charges -- including murder -- were dropped when Buchanan pleaded to the firearm possession charge, and he was released after having spent nearly 20 months in jail, which was credited as time served.

Of the nine defendants, Potts was acquitted of murder but found guilty in 13 other charges and sentenced to life plus 205 years in prison; Laye was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison; Oliphant was convicted of murder and 16 other charges and sentenced to two life sentences plus 130 years; Coleman and Holland pleaded guilty and were sentenced to serve life in prison plus 10 years; Shell was sentenced to a year in prison and Ackey was acquitted of all charges.

The attorney general argues that he should have never been disqualified since he is bound by law to represent all of the executive branch agencies. The attorney general denied any conflict of interest, and the state’s appellate courts have previously recognized his position as legal adviser to an executive agency -- including the PDSC -- and prosecutor in the case.

Washington said Baker’s position as an attorney representing indigent defendants paid by the PDSC makes him less effective as an attorney.

He said that if he needed money to hire an expert to defend an indigent client, then he must go before the PDSC and justify the expense. The attorney general could be privy to this information, which he said would then be a breach of confidential client-attorney information.

“This has a chilling effect on communication between attorney and client,” Washington said.

Washington said the PDSC owes him a percentage of what he has billed to represent Buchanan in the case.

A decision is expected to be made in the case in July and arguments were made March 9.