Upton v. Hardeman, 291 Ga. 720

Hardeman was convicted in 2003 of kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, criminal attempt to commit robbery, and burglary, and received concurrent and consecutive sentences totaling life plus 20 years.
The Court of Appeals and this Court affirmed the convictions after the direct appeal.
In 2010, Hardeman filed a habeas petition challenging the kidnapping conviction as unsupported by the asportation evidence.
Garza v. State (2008) requires evaluating asportation under four factors: duration, whether movement occurred during another offense, whether movement was inherent to that offense, and whether movement posed independent danger.
The habeas court voided only the kidnapping sentence, finding the fourth Garza prong not met, and did not analyze the first three prongs.
On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed, holding the four Garza factors support asportation and remanding to reinstate the kidnapping conviction and sentence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether asportation satisfies Garza four factors.	Hardeman: all four Garza prongs met.	State: fourth prong not satisfied; movement not functionally significant.	Garza prongs met; asportation proven.
Whether habeas court erred by voiding the kidnapping conviction based on Garza.	Hardeman: asportation proven; court erred in voiding.	State: trial evidence insufficient for asportation under Garza.	Habeas court erred; conviction should stand.
Whether remand should reinstate conviction and sentence.	Hardeman: remand to reinstate kidnapping sentence appropriate.	State: no impediment to reinstating on remand.	Judgment reversed and remanded with direction to reinstate.

Garza v. State, 284 Ga. 696 (2008) (four-factor test for asportation)
Jones v. State, 290 Ga. 670 (2012) (applies Garza factors post-2009 amendments)
Hammond v. State, 289 Ga. 142 (2011) (moving victim upstairs can show asportation)