Georgia Court Says Free Exercise Objection to Evidence Not Preserved For Appeal

In Seibert v. State, 2008 Ga. App. LEXIS 1137 (GA Ct. App., Oct 22, 2008), a Georgia state appellate court rejected a claim by defendant, who had been convicted on stalking charges, that the trial court violated his right to free exercise of religion by admitting into evidence a prayer that he had composed. The document was introduced as impeachment evidence against defendant. The court said that while defendant had objected to introduction of the letter at trial, he never raised the free exercise clause as the basis for his objections and thus did not preserve that issue for appeal.