The Garza Test

In Garza v. State, 284 Ga. 696 (670 SE2d 73) (2008), the Georgia Supreme Court adopted a four-part test for determining whether a victim's movement constitutes the asportation necessary for kidnapping or is merely incidental to other criminal activity. Following Garza, the legislature amended the kidnapping provisions in OCGA 16-5-40 to clarify the asportation requirement. the amendment applies to crimes committed on or after July 1, 2009. Under that test, the following factors must be assessed: (1) the duration of the movement; (2) whether the movement occurred during the commission of a separate offense; (3) whether such movement was an inherent part of that separate offense; (4) whether the movement itself presented a significant danger to the victim independent of the danger posed by the separate offense. Garza, supra at 702 (1).