A Stone Mountain appellate attorney has resigned from the Georgia Public Defender Council after judges in multiple criminal cases rejected her work as substantially deficient, delaying appeals for at least 10 defendants across the state. Marilyn Tyler stepped down after the Georgia Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals of Georgia identified problems in briefs she filed on behalf of clients, prompting remands and a scramble to find replacement counsel.
Tyler admitted she struggled with her caseload at the council and accepted responsibility for her errors, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In her resignation, she took responsibility for the seriousness of her errors, telling the paper she was embarrassed and contrite. “My substandard performance is inexcusable and beneath the dignity of a competent appellate attorney,” Tyler wrote, per the newspaper’s report.
The AJC’s account detailed how the Georgia Supreme Court rejected Tyler’s appeal arguments in multiple criminal cases and remanded matters involving deficient defense filings back to lower courts. Among the cases the paper cited, the newspaper’s account notes that one remand involved a case tied to a new child sexual molestation charge.
A Pattern Documented in Case Filings
Court records support the broader picture painted by the AJC’s reporting. In the case of Lawrence Fauntleroy, who was convicted in 2022 of aggravated sexual battery and other offenses, Tyler filed an appellate brief on his behalf on April 30, 2026, according to court documents hosted on app.midpage.ai. Months later, on Aug. 11, Cynthia Wright Harrison, the Georgia Public Defender Council’s managing appellate attorney, asked the Court of Appeals to remand Fauntleroy’s case to ensure he received effective appellate representation…