A jury convicted Nicholas Marks of multiple violations of OCGA § 30-5-8 a 1 unlawful to abuse, neglect, or exploit elder persons; OCGA § 15-19-51 a 7 unauthorized practice of law to use title of attorney when one is not a duly licensed attorney; and other crimes stemming from the financial exploitation Leonard Stewart. Via motions to dismiss the indictment, Marks challenged the constitutionality of OCGA § 30-5-8 a 1 on vagueness and equal protection grounds, and the constitutionality of OCGA § 15-19-51 a 7 on First Amendment grounds. The trial court upheld the constitutionality of OCGA § 30-5-8 a 1 on equal protection grounds, and the constitutionality of OCGA § 15-1951 a on First Amendment grounds. Marks has appealed to this Court, asserting various constitutional claims, and enumerating other issues on appeal. Finding no error, we affirm. In early March 2004, Leonard Stewart, an 89-year old widower, was dining alone in a restaurant in DeKalb County, Georgia, when he was approached by a woman who invited him to join her and her male companion at their table.1 The two introduced themselves to Mr. Stewart as Anne and Ron Russo hereinafter “Marks”2 , and claimed to be niece and uncle. An employee of the restaurant recalled the encounter and he described the woman as “very attractive” in her “early 50′s, late 40′s.” Marks identified himself as an attorney, and the three chatted for about an hour.
Over the next few weeks, Marks spent six or eight hours a day with Mr. Stewart. During that time, Marks offered to do legal work in exchange for Mr. Stewart’s 1990 automobile. Mr. Stewart signed the title document and relinquished control of the vehicle to Marks. Marks drove Mr. Stewart to various banks where Marks identified himself to bank employees as Mr. Stewart’s attorney, and caused Mr. Stewart to close certain joint accounts and reopen them as individual accounts, and to remove certain items of jewelry from his safety deposit box and to give that jewelry to Marks. Mr. Stewart testified that he gave his credit cards to Marks “to loan him a few dollars”; instead, Marks charged approximately $15,000 worth of goods to those cards without authorization. In addition, Marks used Mr. Stewart’s credit card to send a $5,700 Western Union money order to Marks’ relative, Sam Marks, in Illinois.
