Supreme Court of Georgia Decisions 2018
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1029
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2014, Willie Mizell was convicted by jury of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and for concealing the death of another in connection with the death of Cassandra Bryant. For these crimes, Mizell was…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1143
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case's first appearance before the Georgia Supreme Court in 2014, Wayne Welbon was found guilty of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the 2013 shooting death of Taurean Reeves. After the trial…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1153
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Frank Henderson was convicted of felony murder and related offenses in connection with the beating death of Monica Davis. On appeal, Appellant contended that the Georgia Supreme Court should grant him a new…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1155
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2015, a grand jury charged Dantevoise Doleman with a series of offenses including murder, armed robbery and possession of a firearm. He was convicted in a jury trial and appealed that conviction, arguing the trial…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1162
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant R’Shon Chauncey Blake challenged the trial court’s denial of his plea in bar, based on double jeopardy, after the court declared a mistrial over Blake’s objection of his murder trial during jury deliberations.…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1191
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Jonathan Smith appealed his convictions for murder and related offenses arising out of the beating death of sixteen-year-old Cheyenne Hair and her unborn child. On appeal, Appellant argued only that the…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1238
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant James Hightower was convicted of malice murder, two counts of aggravated assault, one count of aggravated battery, a firearm offense, and misdemeanor obstruction in connection with the shooting death of Anthony…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1241
Justia Opinion Summary: Jeneral Walter appealed his convictions for felony murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Both convictions stemmed from the 2010 shooting death of T’Shanerka Smith. Walter argued the trial…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1264
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Alejandro Rivera was tried and convicted of malice murder and related offenses in connection with the February 2008 shooting death of Mark Martin. Rivera appealed, alleging the evidence was insufficient to…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1311
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, Terrence Johnson was tried jury and convicted of armed robbery, aggravated assault with intent to rob, and unlawful possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Johnson appealed, and the Court of…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1334
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Supreme Court granted Markell Rawles' application for a certificate of probable cause to appeal the denial of his petition for habeas corpus. The issue presented was whether the habeas court erred in finding…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1363
Justia Opinion Summary: Christopher Willis was tried by jury and convicted of murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Robert Lee Murry, Jr. Willis appealed, arguing: (1) the evidence was insufficient to sustain his…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1438
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Zjuantavious Marquis Jackson appealed his convictions for malice murder and other charges related to the shooting death of Detavious Milner at an April 2015 house party in Floyd County, Georgia. He argued on…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1439
Justia Opinion Summary: In October 2014, a jury found Wright Greyhound Phoenix guilty of malice murder, aggravated assault, felony murder predicated on aggravated assault, and obstruction of an officer, all in connection with the stabbing death…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1479
Justia Opinion Summary: Pro se appellants Jack and Lynette Beavers (Appellants) appeal from the dismissal of their petition for habeas relief. Appellants are the parents of three minor children. On May 12, 2017, the children were taken from the…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1525
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Denirio Cunningham was tried and convicted of murder and related offenses in connection with crimes he committed against David Rucker, Ashley Gay, and their two minor children. Cunningham appealed, arguing the…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1557
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Archie Bennett was convicted of felony murder, arson, and concealing a death in connection with the shooting death of his ex-wife, Shirley Bennett. Appellant argued on appeal: (1) the trial court erred when it…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1583
Justia Opinion Summary: Bobby Gray was convicted by jury for murder and related crimes. He appealed, arguing the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict, the verdict was contrary to and against the weight of the evidence, and that the…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1594
Justia Opinion Summary: Traevis Griggs appealed his felony murder conviction for the April 2015 shooting death of Jewvyn Glover. Griggs argued on appeal that the trial court erred by convicting him of felony murder instead of voluntary…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1602
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Nyheim Gartrell was tried by jury and found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the death of James…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1621
Justia Opinion Summary: Anthony Lewis was tried by jury and convicted of murder and the unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with the 2010 shooting of Brandon Jones. Lewis appealed, claiming that the State violated his right to due…
Date: December 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1642
Justia Opinion Summary: In August 2014, Nicholas Hart was charged by the City of Sandy Springs with two counts of misdemeanor disorderly conduct under Section 38-54 of the city’s municipal code. Hart filed a demand for jury trial with the Sandy…
Date: November 5, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1284
Justia Opinion Summary: In August 2012, a jury found Justin Dunn guilty of malice murder, felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the…
Date: November 5, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1305
Justia Opinion Summary: James Harris was convicted by jury for murder and related crimes. He appealed, contending he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Finding no constitutionally deficient assistance of counsel, the Georgia Supreme…
Date: November 5, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1454
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2016, a jury found Edwin Williams guilty of felony murder and criminal attempt to commit armed robbery in connection with the death of Tyler Johnson. Williams was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. He…
Date: November 5, 2018
Docket Number: S19Z0269
Justia Opinion Summary: Judge Tammy Stokes was publicly reprimanded for admitted violations of the Georgia Code of Judicial conduct. The Georgia Supreme Court found Judge Stokes violated Rule 1.2(A), which required judges to “act at all times…
Date: November 1, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1951
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari in this case to reconsider Hines v. Georgia Ports Authority, 604 SE2d 189 (2004), and more specifically, its holding that the Georgia Ports Authority…
Date: October 22, 2018
Docket Number: S17G2021
Justia Opinion Summary: In Cherokee Funding v. Ruth, 802 SE2d 865 (2017), the Georgia Court of Appeals decided that neither the Industrial Loan Act, nor the Payday Lending Act, applied to certain transactions in which a financing company…
Date: October 22, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0670
Justia Opinion Summary: Pro se appellant Jeffrey McGee has appeared five times before the Georgia Supreme Court with respect to issues arising out of his criminal conviction for the 1999 shooting death of a police officer and related crimes.…
Date: October 22, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0725
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury found Dantazias Raines guilty of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the 2011 killing of Brandy Guined, as well as three counts of misdemeanor obstruction of a police officer. He was sentenced to…
Date: October 22, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0775
Justia Opinion Summary: Rico Jones was found guilty of felony murder, five counts of cruelty to children in the second degree, and one count of possession of marijuana in connection with the drowning death of Camyria Arnold. Jones was…
Date: October 22, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0804
Justia Opinion Summary: Patrick Hinton was found guilty of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the May 2013 shooting death of Henry Reeves. On appeal, Hinton argued his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to…
Date: October 22, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0805
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Martez Johnson appealed his convictions for crimes related to the 2015 shooting death of Cortez Ingram and the aggravated assault of Torin Waters. Appellant argued the evidence was legally insufficient to…
Date: October 22, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0894
Justia Opinion Summary: A habeas petitioner who has completely served her misdemeanor sentence “must demonstrate that [s]he is suffering adverse collateral consequences flowing from [her] conviction. Seble Abebe appealed the denial of her…
Date: October 22, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0979
Justia Opinion Summary: Following appellant Harold Bishop’s third trial for the 1996 murder of his wife, Sherry, he was convicted of felony murder. On appeal, he argued the trial court erred in admitting certain statements made by the victim…
Date: October 22, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1171
Justia Opinion Summary: Selena Rivera was found guilty by jury of malice murder and other offenses in connection with the beating death of three-year-old Nevaeh Pinckney. Pickney was Rivera’s grandchild. On appeal, Rivera contended the evidence…
Date: October 22, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1494
Justia Opinion Summary: Jerome Foster was convicted by jury of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, and related crimes in connection with the robbery, beating, and strangling death of Kenneth Scott, Jr. In his sole enumeration on appeal,…
Date: October 22, 2018
Docket Number: S18P0915
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Demetrius Willis of three counts of malice murder and numerous related offenses. After finding beyond a reasonable doubt multiple statutory aggravating circumstances, the jury recommended death sentences…
Date: October 9, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0669
Justia Opinion Summary: Darron Cato appealed his convictions for felony murder and a firearm offense stemming from the death of T’Shanerka Smith. Cato argues the trial court committed plain error when it instructed the jury on the commission of…
Date: October 9, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0728
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Richard McWilliams appealed his convictions relating to the beating death of his girlfriend Kathleen Baxter. McWilliams challenged the sufficiency of the evidence presented at trial for the various convictions,…
Date: October 9, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0784
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Isaac Beasley of rape, aggravated sodomy, kidnapping with bodily injury, and aggravated assault. He was sentenced to 20 years for the rape offense, 10 years for aggravated sodomy, to be served…
Date: October 9, 2018
Docket Numbers: S18X0852, S18A0851
Justia Opinion Summary: In June of 2015, cross-appellant Quantravious Holmes was convicted of malice murder and other offenses arising out of the shooting death of his friend Todd Burkes. The trial court granted Holmes’ motion for new trial on…
Date: October 9, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0959
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Manuel Lord for malice murder and related crimes. Appealing pro se, he appealed, raising “numerous enumerations of error.” Finding no reversible error, however, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Lord’s…
Date: October 9, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1025
Justia Opinion Summary: Tianna Kidd was convicted by jury in 1999 of felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony in connection with the shooting and death of Tameka Woody. On…
Date: October 9, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1169
Justia Opinion Summary: In May 2009, a jury found Billy Davis, Joseph Andrews, and Tremaine “Dick” Calhoun guilty of malice murder and felony murder in the shooting death of Cornelius Lowe. Davis was sentenced to life imprisonment. His second…
Date: October 9, 2018
Docket Number: S18G0585
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Supreme Court granted review in this case to decide whether hearsay identifying an alleged sexual abuser of a child victim was admissible under the hearsay exception for statements made for purposes of…
Date: September 24, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0627
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Johnathan Felton appealed his convictions related to the 2010 shooting death of Eric Wright. On appeal, appellant alleged the trial court improperly commented on the evidence in violation of former OCGA 17-8-…
Date: September 24, 2018
Docket Numbers: S18A0933, S18A0934
Justia Opinion Summary: Richard Davidson and Michael Denay Grant were tried separately by juries, and both were convicted of murder and the unlawful possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the attempted…
Date: September 24, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0936
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Phillip Scott Kirby, Sr. was convicted of malice murder in connection with the stabbing death of Emily Mason. On appeal, he argued that his conviction should be reversed because: (1) the trial court erred in…
Date: September 10, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1875
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellee Bobby Schroeder received a traffic ticket in DeKalb County in 2013. He alleged he appeared in recorder’s court and was ordered to pay a fine and that he timely paid the fine, but the staff of the recorder’s…
Date: September 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0624
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Philmore Reed, Jr. resided at a property located at 1020 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and operated businesses there and at other contiguous parcels. At trial, evidence was presented to show that commencing in…
Date: September 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0711
Justia Opinion Summary: Phillip Kennebrew brought an interlocutory appeal of the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress certain physical evidence the State wished to introduce in prosecuting him for murder. The Georgia Supreme Court…
Date: September 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0725
Justia Opinion Summary: In March 2013, a jury found Dantazias Raines guilty of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the killing of Brandy Guined, as well as three counts of misdemeanor obstruction of a police officer. He was…
Date: September 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0770
Justia Opinion Summary: Denzel Atkins was charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of Elijah Wallace in December 2015. The State filed a pretrial notice of its intent to introduce other acts evidence under OCGA 24-4-404(b).…
Date: September 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0803
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved a variety of constitutional challenges to Georgia’s Child Abuse Registry that a group of high school teachers and administrators filed directly to superior court after their names were put on the…
Date: September 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1014
Justia Opinion Summary: Perry Brown was tried and convicted of felony murder for the death of Willie Joe Beasley. Brown appealed, arguing: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction; (2) the trial court erred in admitting…
Date: September 10, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1410
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Michael Bennefield appealed a trial court’s denial of his motion for an out-of-time appeal of his 1993 convictions based on his guilty plea to the murder of Erika Darby, the rape and armed robbery of Demetras…
Date: August 27, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1949
Justia Opinion Summary: Hubert Coates was convicted of four counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and was sentenced on each count. Coates appealed; the Court of Appeals affirmed his convictions and sentences, concluding that…
Date: August 27, 2018
Docket Number: S17G2008
Justia Opinion Summary: After she was terminated from her employment as a firefighter, Appellee Chawanda Martin sued the City of College Park, the city council, and various interim officials, including the two individuals responsible for her…
Date: August 27, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0636
Justia Opinion Summary: Michael Stallworth was convicted by jury of malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He appealed, arguing, among other things, that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict…
Date: August 27, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0765
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Georgia Supreme Court concerned the constitutionality of the appointment process created by House Bill 597 (HB 597), a DeKalb County local law that delegated to private entities the…
Date: August 27, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0797
Justia Opinion Summary: Joseph Williams was tried by jury and convicted of murder and other crimes in connection with the 2015 shooting of Travious Floyd. Williams appealed, contending that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel when…
Date: August 27, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0818
Justia Opinion Summary: Thomas Sessions, Jr. was convicted by jury for malice murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He contended on appeal that the evidence was insufficient to support the…
Date: August 27, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0824
Justia Opinion Summary: Albert King was tried by jury and convicted of murder and aggravated assault in connection with the 2003 death of Lelia Mae Huston. King appealed, arguing the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction for…
Date: August 27, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0861
Justia Opinion Summary: Following a jury trial, Quantavious Guffie was found guilty of malice murder and various other offenses in connection with the shooting death of Drexel Berry. Guffie appealed, arguing trial court error and ineffective…
Date: August 27, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0957
Justia Opinion Summary: Arielle Turner was indicted by grand jury for the December 2015 death of her infant child. Turner filed a pre-trial motion to suppress, seeking to prohibit the State from adducing items that were seized from her house…
Date: August 27, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1138
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Levaughn Sloans was tried by a jury and found guilty of murder, felony murder, criminal damage to property in the first degree, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime…
Date: August 27, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1277
Justia Opinion Summary: John Johnson was convicted of murder but was granted a new trial. The State appealed, and the trial court entered an order denying Johnson’s motion for appeal bond. Johnson appealed that last order, contending that it…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1957
Justia Opinion Summary: Joshua and Taylor Patterson became ill after eating food at a wedding rehearsal dinner prepared, catered, and served by Big Kev’s Barbeque. The Pattersons brought this action for negligence, violation of the Georgia Food…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1996
Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed Jerome Atkins’s convictions for statutory rape and aggravated child molestation. Thereafter, the Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari and posed the following two questions: (1) whether a…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0595
Justia Opinion Summary: Bobby Stribling, Jr. appealed his convictions for malice murder and other crimes arising from the fatal beating of William Thomas, Jr. Thomas was placed in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator as a result of the…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0637
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Raven Marie Delaney was convicted of malice murder and related offenses arising from the shooting deaths of John Evans and Robert Holcomb. On the night of April 5, 2004, a number of individuals gathered with…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0703
Justia Opinion Summary: Moises Herrera-Bustamante was convicted after a jury found him guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol and having an open container of alcohol. About a year later, while his motion for new trial was pending, the…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0732
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Taurean Thorpe was tried and convicted of felony murder and related offenses in connection with the June 2010 shooting death of Justin Evans. Thorpe appealed, alleging that he received ineffective assistance of…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0777
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Christopher Frisby appealed a trial court’s order denying his motion for an out-of-time appeal of his 1995 convictions based on guilty pleas to malice murder and other crimes related to the stabbing death of…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0796
Justia Opinion Summary: Raymon Green appeals his conviction for malice murder and other crimes, stemming from two different incidents occurring on May 9 and 21, 2010, the latter of which resulted in the death of Christopher Finney. Green argued…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0826
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Joseph Harris was tried and convicted of murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, criminal trespass and other crimes committed against David Rucker, Ashley Gay and Rucker and Gay’s two minor children.…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0827
Justia Opinion Summary: Michelle Hall, who was represented by counsel in her first appeal, sought to pursue a second direct appeal, which was not authorized by Georgia law, leaving the Georgia Supreme Court without jurisdiction to consider on…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0845
Justia Opinion Summary: Quinntavish Kennedy appealed his convictions for malice murder and other crimes related to the 2012 shooting death of Isiah Archible. At trial, the State introduced other acts evidence under OCGA 24-4-404 (b), and…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0855
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Brawny McCullough was found guilty of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting deaths of his father, Donald Eugene McCullough (“Gene”), and his great-aunt, Peggy Molden. The State sought…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0886
Justia Opinion Summary: Orlando Hawkins was convicted by jury of malice murder and other offenses in connection with the 2013 shooting death of Morie Brooks. On appeal, Hawkins argued the trial court erred in instructing the jury, and in…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0902
Justia Opinion Summary: Joshua Starks appealed after he was convicted of felony murder and other charges stemming from 2013 the shooting death of Stenneth Charles during a drug deal. Starks argued he was entitled to a new trial because his…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0949
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Dexter Parks was tried by jury and found guilty of felony-murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and participation in criminal gang activity.…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: S18A1026
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Corey Jones was convicted of malice murder and two firearm offenses in connection with the 2014 shooting death of Tywanna Boyd. On appeal, he contended only that the evidence presented at his trial was legally…
Date: August 14, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0748
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, appellant Jessie Mercer was convicted of the kidnapping of Richard Love and his wife, Parchando, as well as armed robbery and two counts of aggravated assault. On appeal, appellant challenged the sufficiency of…
Date: August 14, 2018
Docket Number: S18Q0757
Justia Opinion Summary: United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia certified a question of Georgia law to the state Supreme Court. At issue in this insurance coverage dispute between plaintiff National Casualty Company, a…
Date: August 2, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1894
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellees Sherinna McMann and Childrona Holton were passengers in a car traveling on the interstate in Bibb County, Georgia when allegedly an unknown driver swerved into their car's path, causing the driver to slam on…
Date: August 2, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0846
Justia Opinion Summary: DayQuan Mangram was convicted of malice murder and related crimes in connection with the 2012 shooting death of Untavious Gillard. Mangram challenged the sufficiency of the evidence corroborating the testimony of a…
Date: June 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1021
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari to the Court of Appeals in Thomas v. Tenet HealthSystem GB, 796 SE2d 301 (2017), to consider whether that court properly held that a claim of imputed simple…
Date: June 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1270
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Jimmy Winfrey pled guilty to six counts of violating Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism Prevention Act in connection with a drive-by shooting of rapper “Lil Wayne’s” tour bus on Interstate 75. Winfrey appealed,…
Date: June 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1375
Justia Opinion Summary: Timothy Coen filed suit against CDC Software Corporation, Aptean, Inc. (CDC’s successor in interest), and four individuals acting as either a board member or general counsel for CDC, for defamation, false light and…
Date: June 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1391
Justia Opinion Summary: In July 2015, the Juvenile Court of Cherokee County, Georgia terminated the parental rights of a father and a mother as to their three minor children, I.L.M., I.T.M., and B.M. On October 8, 2015, in a separate case, the…
Date: June 29, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0035
Justia Opinion Summary: Leroy Willis was found guilty of murder, rape, and other charges arising out of the strangulation death of a victim whose body was discovered in the parking lot of a tire company where Willis had previously been employed…
Date: June 29, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0176
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants Tshombe Stripling and Elijah Brewer were convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the 2013 shooting death of Khaseim Walton. On appeal, Stripling contended only that the trial court…
Date: June 29, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0412
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2015, Robert Shaughnessy and Katie Patten married and conceived a child. Shaughnessy died soon thereafter. In November 2015, the widowed Patten gave birth to a baby girl, and Patten permitted Shaughnessy’s mother,…
Date: June 29, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0497
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Damarius Thompson challenged his convictions for malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Joshua Richey. Appellant represented himself on appeal, and enumerated a variety of…
Date: June 29, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0541
Justia Opinion Summary: Christina Menzies was found guilty by jury of felony murder, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, and related crimes in connection with the shooting death of Menzies’s sister Jennifer during an attempted armed…
Date: June 29, 2018
Docket Number: S18Z1333
Justia Opinion Summary: The Director of the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) brought formal charged against Eddie Anderson, the Chief Magistrate Judge for Tattnall County. The acts of judicial misconduct arose from the repossession of a…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S17G0706
Justia Opinion Summary: Amy Cazier and four other consumers of retail electrical service brought this putative class action against Georgia Power Company, asserting that Georgia Power for several years has collected municipal franchise fees…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Numbers: S17G1676, S17G1677
Justia Opinion Summary: In November 2013, the Consumer Credit Research Foundation (CCRF) entered a consulting agreement with the Kennesaw State University Research and Service Foundation under which Dr. Jennifer Lewis Priestley, a professor at…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1788
Justia Opinion Summary: In Lynchar, Inc. v. Colonial Oil Industries, Inc., 801 SE2d 576 (2017), the Court of Appeals found that certain individual guaranties of Lynchar, Inc.’s debt to Colonial Oil Industries, Inc. were unenforceable under…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0028
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Robert Ware was found guilty of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the December 2015 shooting death of his wife, Michelle. On appeal, Ware argued the evidence at trial was insufficient to support…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0100
Justia Opinion Summary: The trial court in this case ordered the sheriff to take Ricky Lee Carr into custody solely because Carr had been charged with committing violent crimes and found mentally incompetent to stand trial. The court directed…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0123
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Joseph Gadson and his brother Nkosi Gadson were tried together and found guilty of the murder of Amady Seydi and other crimes committed against Seydi and his girlfriend Tarah Medsker over the span of three…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0130
Justia Opinion Summary: The constitutional issue involved in this case was identical to the one that was presented in, and resolved by, the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision in Carr v. State, – Ga. – (Case No S18A0100, decided June 18, 2018).…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0268
Justia Opinion Summary: Odes Dupree was convicted of malice murder and other crimes arising out of the asphyxiation death of 75-year-old Florene Duke. Raising the sufficiency of the evidence to convict him, Dupree asserted the trial court erred…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0281
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Department of Human Services, Division of Family and Children Services (“DFCS”) appealed a superior court decision that found Georgia’s central child abuse registry was unconstitutional, both on its face and…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0313
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant John Kennedy Cope appealed his convictions related to the death of Moses Mack. As grounds for his appeal, appellant argued the trial court erroneously admitted two statements he made to police. Finding no…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0327
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Nicholas Wade was convicted of murder and related offenses arising out of the beating death of Keon Belk, as well as the aggravated assault of Vinnie Jones. On appeal, Appellant argued: (1) the jury was…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0430
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Georgia Supreme COurt's review centered on whether the contract involved in this case between the City of Atlanta and a private business for the lease of retail concession space at…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0496
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Maxim Cabaret, Inc. d/b/a Maxim Cabaret was a strip club in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and appellant Theo Lambros was the club’s operator, sole shareholder, and president (collectively “Maxim”). Maxim appealed the…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0586
Justia Opinion Summary: Demario Carman, along with three other men, was indicted for murder, armed robbery, and related crimes in connection with the 2012 death of Vanessa Thrasher at O.T.’s Lounge in Atlanta. The State gave notice of its…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0594
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Supreme Court granted prisoner Cardell Abrams’s application for a certificate of probable cause to appeal the denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, posing the question of whether the habeas…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0619
Justia Opinion Summary: Brandon Taylor and his three co-indictees (Henry Finley, III, James Jordan, and Christopher Cushenberry) were charged with malice murder, three counts of felony murder, and other offenses arising out of the shooting…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0640
Justia Opinion Summary: Walter Caldwell appealed his conviction and sentence for felony murder while in the commission of aggravated assault in connection with the beating death of his girlfriend’s fifteen-month-old daughter Tynisha Carlton.…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0779
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, a jury found Charles Mitchell guilty of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, arson, concealing the death of another, making a false statement, and possession of a…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0841
Justia Opinion Summary: Following the denial of his motion for new trial, Stephon Rickman appealed his convictions for felony murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime in connection with the fatal shooting of Travious…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0998
Justia Opinion Summary: Rico Ballard appealed pro se the Superior Court’s denial of his motion and amended motion in arrest of judgment, which Ballard filed many years after his 1996 murder conviction. The Georgia Supreme Court did not reach…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: S18Q0075
Justia Opinion Summary: In a wrongful death lawsuit involving Georgia law, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia certified two questions to the Georgia Supreme Court. In September 1992, Delia Bibbs was involved…
Date: June 4, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1478
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari in this case to decide whether, when a motion to recuse the trial judge is filed after the judge has orally held a party’s attorney in contempt, the recusal motion…
Date: June 4, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1500
Justia Opinion Summary: In August 2015, Doug and Lynda Tatum applied to the Pickens County Board of Commissioners for a conditional use permit for a 75-acre parcel near Jasper. The application was referred to the Pickens County Planning…
Date: June 4, 2018
Docket Numbers: S18A0147, S18A0148
Justia Opinion Summary: Sean Nalls and Montrella Baskin appealed their convictions for malice murder and other charges stemming from an incident in which William Hughes was killed while attempting to buy drugs. Nalls argued: (1) the trial court…
Date: June 4, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0478
Justia Opinion Summary: Willie Terrell was tried by jury and convicted of murder and related crimes in connection with a shooting that killed Anthony Thomas and Tanisha Johnson and wounded Tanisha’s one-year-old son, K.T. Terrell argued on…
Date: June 4, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0799
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Stevie Lamar Garner was tried by jury and found guilty of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and other crimes in the shooting death of Patrick Marcus Edwin Wall. Garner appealed,…
Date: June 4, 2018
Docket Numbers: S18Y0833, S18Y0834, S18Y0835, S18Y0836, S18Y0837
Date: May 21, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1333
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1995, Barry Davis pled guilty to aggravated sodomy against his six-year-old daughter and was sentenced to ten years with two to serve in confinement. After the enactment of OCGA 42-1-12 in 1996, he was required to…
Date: May 21, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1485
Justia Opinion Summary: Following the Court of Appeals’ decision in RL BB ACQ I-GA CVL, LLC v. Workman, 798 SE2d 677 (2017), the Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari to consider two questions: (1) whether attorney fees and costs are…
Date: May 21, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0003
Justia Opinion Summary: Maurice Thomas was tried by a jury and convicted of murder and other crimes in connection with the fatal shooting of Eugene Grier. Thomas appealed, contending that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel when…
Date: May 21, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0017
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Stephen Johnson was indicted in 2013 for felony murder and drug conspiracy. He challenged the trial court’s order denying his motion to withdraw his guilty plea to felony murder. Appellant claims that his plea…
Date: May 21, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0114
Justia Opinion Summary: Michael Jordan was convicted of felony murder and related offenses arising out of the shooting death of Stacy Johnson and the aggravated assaults of Rodney Miles and Shatik Bryant. On appeal, Jordan argued: (1) the…
Date: May 21, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0132
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Supreme Court granted a certificate of probable cause in a habeas corpus action to determine whether the habeas court erred in ruling that certain claims alleged in Andre Gordon’s petition for habeas corpus…
Date: May 21, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0203
Justia Opinion Summary: Kevin Puckett was found guilty by jury of malice murder, felony murder, and family violence aggravated assault in connection with the shooting death of his father, Luther. On appeal, Puckett contended that the trial…
Date: May 21, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0369
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Marvin Manning was charged with malice murder, two counts of felony murder, and other offenses arising out of the shooting death of Jimmy Sims. The jury found Manning not guilty of malice murder but found him…
Date: May 21, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0393
Justia Opinion Summary: James Brock appealed the denial of his mandamus petition seeking records related to his murder convictions. The Georgia Supreme Court determined it had jurisdiction over the appeal arising from this civil action: "[w]e…
Date: May 21, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0426
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Qutravius Palmer and his codefendant Zion Wainwright were convicted of murder and other crimes in connection with the December 2013 shooting death of Xavier Arnold. On appeal, Palmer argued the trial court…
Date: May 21, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0453
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Antonio Faust was convicted for various crimes related to the 2013 kidnapping of Michael Pippins and the shooting death of David McMillan, III. Appellant’s sole enumeration of error is that the State failed to…
Date: May 21, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0461
Justia Opinion Summary: Christopher Szorcsik was convicted by jury of malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault in connection with the 2007 stabbing death of Richard Bentley. On appeal, Szorcsik contended: (1) the evidence presented…
Date: May 21, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0509
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1977, Carzell Moore was convicted of the rape and murder of Teresa Allen, and sentenced to death. In a federal habeas corpus case, Moore was granted a new sentencing proceeding. In the course of the new state…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1344
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari in this case to address whether Georgia’s new Juvenile Code required a party to follow the interlocutory appeal procedures laid out in OCGA 5-6-34 (b) when appealing an order…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1472
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal stemmed from the Forsyth County, Georgia Probate Court’s finding that Emanuel Gladstone breached his fiduciary duty as conservator for his incapacitated wife, Jacqueline Gladstone. The court entered a…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1530
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Latisha McCoy was charged with driving under the influence of marijuana to the extent it was less safe to drive after she was stopped at a roadblock in Henry County, Georgia. She moved to suppress all evidence…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1691
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari to consider whether the warrantless search of Richard Caffee resulting in the discovery of marijuana was authorized by an exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0012
Justia Opinion Summary: Ashleigh Ricks appealed the denial of her 2017 motion for an out-of-time appeal of her guilty-plea conviction for felony murder. The Georgia Supreme Court reversed, concluding that the trial court was without…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0018
Justia Opinion Summary: Dustin Putnal was been indicted for one count each of malice murder, aggravated battery, and aggravated sexual battery and two counts each of felony murder and cruelty to children in the first degree in connection with…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0038
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant John Taylor was tried and convicted of malice murder and related offenses in connection with the February 2011 death of Gene Musgrave and aggravated assault of Robert Sauls. Taylor appealed, alleging: (1) that…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0052
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from a January 2013 roadway altercation between George Ebinger and another motorist, Logan Lord, that came to a head in a shopping center parking lot. Lord claimed to have suffered injuries to his arms…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0062
Justia Opinion Summary: Rajonte McGruder was convicted of malice murder in the death of Kenneth Quarterman, Jr., aggravated assault against Lewis Brown III, and other crimes in connection with a drive-by shooting in June 2013. On appeal,…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0063
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Damien Simpkins was found guilty of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the June 2013 shooting death of Kenneth Quarterman, Jr. On appeal, Simpkins argued his trial counsel was ineffective for…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0113
Justia Opinion Summary: In January 2017, a jury was empaneled to try Travis Yarbrough for murder and other crimes. Before the State rested its case, Yarbrough moved for a mistrial, alleging prosecutorial misconduct in the direct examination of…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0121
Justia Opinion Summary: Shakeim Dorsey appealed his convictions for malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the shooting death of Derickes Miles. Dorsey argued on appeal: (1) that the…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0194
Justia Opinion Summary: William Winston appealed his convictions relating to the death of Caylen Gooch. Appellant’s sole contention raised on appeal was that the evidence was insufficient to convict him of the crimes charged. Finding no…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0201
Justia Opinion Summary: Corey Blount was convicted of murder and related offenses stemming from the shooting death of Derrick Merritt Jr. and the wounding of Jamaris Walter. He challenged the sufficiency of the evidence presented against him at…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0241
Justia Opinion Summary: Nicambreon Flowers was tried by jury and convicted of murder and armed robbery in connection with the 2014 fatal shooting of Joel Tengue. Flowers appealed, arguing that the evidence was legally insufficient to sustain…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0262
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Kevon Brown was found guilty of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, in…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0274
Justia Opinion Summary: In September 2003, Johnny O’Neal Usher pleaded guilty and was convicted of murder, rape, and burglary. He did not appeal his convictions at that time. Fourteen years later, he filed a motion for leave to take an…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0276
Justia Opinion Summary: Zachary Taylor appealed his conviction for malice murder based on the 2004 death of Lamar Railey 16 days after Taylor struck him with his car. Taylor argued on appeal that his malice murder conviction was not supported…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0331
Justia Opinion Summary: Karon Norman was tried by jury and convicted of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime in connection with the 1997 fatal shooting of Keith Williams. Norman raised three claims on appeal: (1)…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0333
Justia Opinion Summary: Deion Smith was found guilty of malice murder and arson in connection with the violent death of 15-year-old Jasmine Moore. Smith appealed, arguing that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge the…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0347
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2005, a jury found Jordan Warbington guilty of murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault in the bludgeoning death of Kenneth “Tate” Cain in the break room of the Warbington family mortuary. The judgment of…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0354
Justia Opinion Summary: Matthew Pike (“Pike”), and Daniel Slaton (“Daniel”), and appellant William Slaton, were jointly indicted for malice murder and other crimes in connection with the death of Justin Klaffka. Daniel, appellant’s brother,…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0427
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Allen Watson was convicted of felony murder and possession of a firearm in connection with the 2014 shooting death of Jackise McKie. On appeal, he contended the trial court erred by allowing the lead detective…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0505
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs Candice Reis and Melvin Williams appealed the grant of summary judgment to defendant OOIDA Risk Retention Group, Inc. (“OOIDA”) in a direct action against OOIDA and others arising from a vehicular collision…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0528
Justia Opinion Summary: Margarita Leanos appealed after she was convicted for felony murder and other crimes in connection with the killing of a taxi driver, Isaias Tovar Murillo. On appeal, Leanos challenged the sufficiency of the evidence…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Numbers: S18Y0456, S18Y0457, S18Y0458
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1256
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Department of Revenue denied New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC; Chattanooga MSA LP; Georgia RSA No. 3, LP; and Northeastern Georgia RSA Limited Partnership (collectively “AT&T”) a tax refund. The appellants…
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1343
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Kevin Gibbs was convicted of aggravated assault upon a police officer and other offenses arising out of an encounter he had with a Smyrna police officer in 2013, commencing at a city park. Gibbs was behind the…
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0001
Justia Opinion Summary: Michael Williams was found guilty by jury of malice murder and related crimes for the beating death of four-year-old Nasir Patrick. On appeal, Williams argued the trial court erred in denying him funds to obtain a…
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0091
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Jermorris Russell seeks appellate review of his convictions for the 2013 shooting death of Quintavian Johnson and the aggravated assault of Dayveian Gibson. Witnesses testified that appellant and Johnson were…
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0116
Justia Opinion Summary: Following the denial of his motion for new trial, as amended, Tefflon Rhoden appealed his convictions for malice murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a…
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0127
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Lavoris Jackson was tried jointly with Ramel Brown, and both were convicted for murder and other crimes arising out of the 2012 shooting death of victim Curtis Jordan. One witness saw both Brown and Jackson…
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0193
Justia Opinion Summary: Lewis Mitchell Jr. was convicted of malice murder, aggravated assault, and two counts of possession of a firearm in commission of a felony, in connection with the 2009 killing of Antonio Jermaine Mitchell (“Jermaine”)…
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0263
Justia Opinion Summary: Jahbari Jones appealed his convictions for malice murder and theft by taking in connection with the shooting death of his cousin, Tradae Jones. Jones argued the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions and…
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0272
Justia Opinion Summary: In October 2005, a grand jury indicted Xavier Snelson, Jr. for the July 5, 2005 murder, felony murder and aggravated assault of Natilya Smith. In May 2006, Snelson pled guilty to the counts as alleged in his indictment.…
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0314
Justia Opinion Summary: Damion Clayton was shot and killed in a baseball park in Macon. In March 2014, a grand jury indicted Appellant Jedarrius Meadows, Roland Watson, and Trayvon Starks for malice murder and felony murder; in June, they were…
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0346
Justia Opinion Summary: Armando Soto appealed his convictions for malice murder and other crimes in connection with the 2009 shooting death of Angelica Robledo. Soto argued on appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court that the evidence was…
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0382
Justia Opinion Summary: Darrell Hendrix was convicted by jury for felony murder, drug-related and gang-related crimes. On appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court, he contended the evidence was insufficient and that the trial court erred by…
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0421
Justia Opinion Summary: Stephanie Stephens appealed several convictions stemming from the death of her child, Jewell, from cocaine poisoning. Stephens was ultimately sentenced on only one count, felony murder predicated on possession of cocaine…
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Number: S18A0429
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Clifford White was found guilty of murdering his wife, Linda in 2008. She was discovered by appellant’s brother-in-law in a freezer, partially dressed with a bag over her head. The cause of death was listed as…
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Numbers: S18Y0158, S18Y0159
Date: April 16, 2018
Docket Numbers: S18Y0601, S18Y0602
Date: March 15, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1583
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Dijon Cortez Abbott with murder and the related crimes of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, unlawful gang activity,…
Date: March 15, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1709
Justia Opinion Summary: Travis Graves was acquitted of armed robbery but found guilty of two counts each of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the…
Date: March 15, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1717
Justia Opinion Summary: The State of Georgia appealed the grant of habeas relief in regard to appellee Jude Ebele Aduka, a citizen of Nigeria. Appellee was arrested in 2007 after being found with numerous counterfeit goods. An indictment was…
Date: March 15, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1743
Justia Opinion Summary: Clarence Jenkins Jr. appealed his convictions and sentences for felony murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of aggravated battery,…
Date: March 15, 2018
Docket Numbers: S17A1878, S17X1879
Date: March 15, 2018
Docket Numbers: S17A1878, S17X1879
Justia Opinion Summary: In October 1999, pursuant to the Service Delivery Strategy Act (SDS), Greene County, Georgia and five municipalities within the County, including the City of Union Point, entered into various intergovernmental agreements…
Date: March 15, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1903
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Ted Robinson was found guilty of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, attempted armed robbery, possession of a firearm in commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted…
Date: March 15, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1994
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Raymond McKoy was convicted of malice murder in connection with the shooting death of his estranged wife’s girlfriend, Lauren Hudson. Appellant argued the trial court erred in ruling journal entries he had…
Date: March 15, 2018
Docket Number: S17G0654
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari to determine whether the Court of Appeals in the preceding case, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company v. Koch, 793 SE2d 564 (2016), properly articulated the legal standard…
Date: March 15, 2018
Docket Number: S17G0739
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2015, Timothy Hudson turned 16. Twenty-four days later, he and two accomplices held a man at gunpoint and stole the man’s car, wallet, and cell phone. All three perpetrators were arrested later that day. Hudson was…
Date: March 15, 2018
Docket Number: S17G0832
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, Bryan Harrell was driving his pickup truck at more than 50 miles per hour when he rear-ended the 1999 Jeep in which four-year-old Remington Walden was a rear-seat passenger, with his aunt behind the wheel. The…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1348
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Anthony Lee Douglas was convicted of malice murder and associated offenses in connection with the shooting deaths of Keith Davis and Charles Avent and the wounding of Sheldon Thomas. On appeal, Appellant…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1349
Justia Opinion Summary: Eddieard Greene was convicted by jury of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and various other offenses in connection with the shooting deaths of Freddie Jackson and Laura Dowdy and the shooting of Kendra…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1370
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Emmanuel Perez was tried before a jury and found guilty of malice murder and other crimes in the death of Armando Montez. Perez suspected that his wife was having a sexual relationship with the victim, who was…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1402
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Willie Morris was found guilty of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the July 2004 shooting death of Fabian Miller. Morris appealed, arguing to the Georgia Supreme Court there were evidentiary…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1417
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Marquis Tanner was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Abel Carmona, Jr. On appeal, he argued the evidence presented at his trial was insufficient to support his…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1464
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant David Gallemore, III and appellee Wanda White divorced in 2009. Later, the parties were involved in a dispute over the amount of child support Gallemore was required to pay and whether he was in contempt for…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1488
Justia Opinion Summary: In consolidated actions, brothers-appellants Alex and David Peterson claimed, among other things, that their mother, appellee Mary Peterson, and their brother, appellee Calhoun Peterson, had breached their duties as…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1549
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Steven Eller was found guilty of malice murder and other crimes, and his sister, Appellant Tammy Murphy, was found guilty of felony murder and other crimes, all in connection with the March 2013 shooting death…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1555
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Reno Byron was found guilty of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Virgil White. He claimed on appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court that the evidence presented at his trial…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1597
Justia Opinion Summary: Jonathan Nations was convicted of murder and other offenses arising out of the killing of Bobby Swint and the wounding and armed robbery of Kenyatta Moss. His amended motion for new trial was denied, and he appealed,…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1627
Justia Opinion Summary: Yvette Taylor was convicted by jury for the felony murder of Theodore Crew. Taylor served as the live-in caretaker of Crew. Crew’s nude body was found on the bathroom floor; he had suffered 21 blunt force and 17 sharp…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1662
Justia Opinion Summary: Orlando Ramirez appealed his convictions for malice murder, attempted murder, and other crimes associated with a shooting in which Bruno Rodriguez was killed and Daniel Maldonado-Flores was injured. Ramirez argued that…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1694
Justia Opinion Summary: This case was a “John Doe” appeal from the denial of a motion to seal the records of a criminal case pursuant to OCGA 35-3-37 (m). In July 2006, Doe pled guilty to possession of marijuana as a first-time drug offender…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Numbers: S17A1722, S17A1723, S17A1724
Justia Opinion Summary: Johnathan Anthony, Antonio Pass, and Jekari Strozier were tried by jury and convicted of murder and criminal gang activity in connection with the beating and death of Joshua Chellew. They appealed, each raising several…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1753
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Tommy Hood was convicted of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Morrell Dorsey and the aggravated assault of Alkeyna Bilal. Appellant contended on appeal that: (1) the…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1785
Justia Opinion Summary: Sylvester Henderson appealed pro se appeal a trial court’s order denying his “Objection to Order Denying Defendants Motion for Disclosure Grand Jury Testimony and Evidence.” The issue this case raised for the Georgia…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1804
Justia Opinion Summary: Soon after Tara Grinstead went missing from Irwin County in October 2005, her disappearance attracted significant media attention. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies investigated her…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1892
Justia Opinion Summary: John Jacobs was found guilty by jury of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the shooting death of his wife, Harriette. On…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1905
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Margie Owens was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter as a lesser offense of malice murder, felony murder based on aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, all in…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17G0541
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari in this case to examine whether the Court of Appeals improperly construed OCGA 16-11-135(e), which was part of the Business Security and Employee Privacy Act, as granting…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Numbers: S17G0732, S17G0733, S17G0737
Justia Opinion Summary: Companion appeals raised questions about when a jury considering a medical malpractice case might also be instructed on issues of ordinary negligence. Sterling Brown Sr. sued the defendant medical centers and medical…
Date: March 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17G0884
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari to the Court of Appeals in Georgia v. Walsh, 795 SE2d 202 (2016), to determine whether the Court of Appeals erred in reversing the trial court’s grant of James Walsh’s motion…
Date: February 19, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1354
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Cassandra Norwood appealed her convictions for crimes related to the death of her newborn child, Josiah Lucas Norwood. Appellant attempted to conceal the child's birth; a sister, who happened to be a trained…
Date: February 19, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1357
Justia Opinion Summary: In a feud between siblings over their aunt’s estate, the question presented for the Georgia Supreme Court's review was the propriety of the extensive relief granted by the trial court on a motion for an interlocutory…
Date: February 19, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1419
Justia Opinion Summary: This case raised a question of whether Alexander v. Georgia, 772 SE2d 655 (2015), could be applied retroactively. The Georgia Supreme Court held that an attorney’s failure to counsel his client about parole eligibility…
Date: February 19, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1468
Justia Opinion Summary: Brian Malverty appealed the denial of his motion for an out-of-time appeal. He was indicted in 1985 for murder, felony murder, and related offenses in connection with the deaths of Charles West and Rickey Sims. In…
Date: February 19, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1585
Justia Opinion Summary: David Leeks appealed his convictions for malice murder and other charges stemming from the robbery and fatal shooting of a Fulton County convenience store clerk, Zerit Haileslasie. Leeks argued his convictions should…
Date: February 19, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1641
Justia Opinion Summary: Terrance Dent appealed his convictions and sentences for felony murder while in the commission of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, as well as the denial of his motion for…
Date: February 19, 2018
Docket Numbers: S17A1646, S17A1647, S17A1648
Justia Opinion Summary: Derek Kemp, Harvey Hogans, and Alphonso Watkins appealed their convictions for malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Derek Gray. Kemp and Watkins challenged the sufficiency of the…
Date: February 19, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1750
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Richard Morrison was tried before a jury and found guilty of the malice murder of his girlfriend Tammie Smith. He appealed pro se, asserting multiple claims of error. Having reviewed these claims, the Georgia…
Date: February 19, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1873
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Herbert Drews was convicted of crimes related to the death of James David Ayers, who was a 70-year-old man, and the aggravated battery of Troyce Warren. Appellant alleged the evidence was insufficient to show…
Date: February 19, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1884
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Tacomsi Winters was tried and found guilty of felony murder and related offenses in connection with the shooting death of Dionte Bradley. On appeal, Winters argued she received ineffective assistance of trial…
Date: February 19, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1911
Justia Opinion Summary: Dequontist Lucas was tried by jury and convicted of murder, armed robbery, and other crimes in connection with the fatal shooting of Samuel Steward and the wounding of Demarco Tyler. Lucas appealed, claiming the trial…
Date: February 19, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1915
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Johnathan McCoy was convicted of felony murder and associated offenses in connection with the shooting death of LaShawn Beasley. On appeal, McCoy argued that he was improperly sentenced and that he received…
Date: February 19, 2018
Docket Number: S17G0199
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari in this case to decide whether a locked entry door to a homeowner’s residence provided sufficient notice to a would-be trespasser that he or she is forbidden from entering the…
Date: February 19, 2018
Docket Number: S17Q1559
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1999, Robert Hall, Jr. purchased property in Roswell, Georgia. In April 2005, after having married Cathleen Mary Cahill, Hall recorded a quitclaim deed that transferred the Roswell property to “Robert A. E. Hall, Jr.…
Date: February 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1526
Justia Opinion Summary: Hiram Jones was tried by jury and convicted of felony murder and armed robbery in connection with the stabbing death of J.M. “Jake” King. On appeal, Jones argued he was denied the effective assistance of counsel because…
Date: February 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1578
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Tonya Miller appeals her convictions for malice murder and concealing the death of another relating to the death of Cheryl Miranda. Appellant challenged the sufficiency of the evidence presented against her at…
Date: February 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1582
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Melvin Brown Jr. was tried and convicted of murder and related offenses committed against Javious Tucker and Cyntrelis Boggs. Brown appealed, claiming that the evidence was insufficient to support his…
Date: February 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1599
Justia Opinion Summary: This case presented the issue of whether a trial court has authority to dismiss a prosecutor’s notice of intent to seek the death penalty prior to trial. Appellant Tracen Franklin was eighteen years old at the time of…
Date: February 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1634
Justia Opinion Summary: Aaron McClain was tried by jury and convicted of murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of his wife, Betty Mulbah McClain, and the wounding of his 12-year-old stepdaughter, T.S. McClain appealed,…
Date: February 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1748
Justia Opinion Summary: Demario Goodrum was found guilty by jury of felony murder and related offenses in connection with the shooting death of Tarvanisha Boyd. In this appeal, Goodrum argued the trial court violated his constitutional right to…
Date: February 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1756
Justia Opinion Summary: Following a jury trial, Kynodious Walton appealed his convictions for felony murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, among other crimes, contending that he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel and…
Date: February 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1758
Justia Opinion Summary: Robert Veal was convicted for crimes committed in the course of two armed robberies on November 22, 2010. After a jury found Veal guilty of malice murder and other offenses charged in the indictment against him, the…
Date: February 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1854
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Samuel Stork was convicted of malice murder in connection with the 2014 shooting death of Rodney Pate. In this appeal, he claimed the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction and that his trial…
Date: February 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1887
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Eduardo De La Cruz was tried and convicted of the 1996 murder of Brenda Gibbs. On appeal, Appellant claimed four instances of trial court error and two claims of error by the motion for new trial court. Finding…
Date: February 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1900
Justia Opinion Summary: Jamad Jacque Wallace appealed his convictions for murder and other crimes arising from the fatal shooting of Alex Delgado-Ramos (“Delgado”) in a drug store parking lot. Wallace argued on appeal to the Georgia Supreme…
Date: February 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1978
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Patrick Fletcher was found guilty of two counts each of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the April 2013 shooting…
Date: February 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17A2019
Justia Opinion Summary: Suzzett Calloway was convicted in a federal court of several crimes related to manufacturing methamphetamine. She then was convicted in a state court of felony murder predicated on manufacturing meth; the state charges…
Date: February 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17G0501
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari in this case to consider whether an affidavit executed in support of an application for a search warrant that does not specifically say that the residence to be searched was…
Date: February 5, 2018
Docket Number: S17Q1508
Justia Opinion Summary: In a case of first impression for the Georgia Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia certified a question of Georgia law to the Georgia Supreme Court. The matter at the federal…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1399
Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, Appellant Anthony Prothro was found guilty of malice murder and other crimes associated with the 2013 violent death of his grandfather, Alvin Driver. On direct appeal, Prothro claimed he received…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Numbers: S17A1421, S17A1422, S17A1423, S17A1424, S17A1425
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellee-taxpayers Westrec Properties, Inc. (Sunrise Cove & Snug Harbor Marinas), PS Recreational Properties, I. (Holiday Marina), Chattahoochee Parks, Inc. (Aqualand Marina), March First, Inc. (Gainesville Marina), and…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Numbers: S17A1480, S17A1479
Justia Opinion Summary: Jonathan Johnson and Joshua Lee appealed their convictions for malice murder in connection with the shooting death of Robert Cannon. Johnson also appealed his conviction for possession of marijuana, and Lee appealed his…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1495
Justia Opinion Summary: William Burke appealed his convictions for felony murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, charges stemming from the death of Andrew Daly. He argued that the trial court improperly limited…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1516
Justia Opinion Summary: Jermaine Ware was convicted of malice murder and other offenses arising out of the shooting death of Rodney Mitchell, Jr. and the aggravated assault of two other individuals. The shooting took place following a prank…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1541
Justia Opinion Summary: Matthew Pike appealed his conviction and sentence for malice murder and related crimes in connection with the death of Justin Klaffka. He challenged the denial of severance of his trial from that of his coindictees, the…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1587
Justia Opinion Summary: Joseph Norris was convicted of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault by shooting the victim with a gun (the predicate offense for the felony murder charge), and one count of aggravated assault with the intent to…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1588
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Tracey White was tried by jury and found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime in connection with the shooting death of Larry Miller. He appealed,…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1728
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Javin Andrews was tried by jury and convicted of malice murder and a related offense in connection with the November 2010 shooting death of Ricardo Francois. Andrews appealed, alleging the trial court…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1755
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Patricia Ann Brown was convicted of murder and related offenses in connection with the beating death of Eugene Clark. On appeal, Brown contended that trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective. Though the…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1872
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Neddrick Green was charged along with Jeremy Reynolds, Jr. and Allen Williams for the malice murder of Barry Bullard. Green and Reynolds (who was also charged with possession of cocaine) were tried together and…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Numbers: S17A1928, S17A1929
Justia Opinion Summary: In Case Number S17A1928, Samuel Blackwell appealed his convictions for malice murder, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, and possession of a firearm during the…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1938
Justia Opinion Summary: Blake Harris appealed his convictions for malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Ray Murphy. Harris argued the trial court improperly commented on a witness’s credibility and that the…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17A1992
Justia Opinion Summary: The State appealed a trial court’s order granting Roderick Parrish’s pretrial motion in limine to exclude a statement made by one of his codefendants, Kevin Smith. The trial court granted the motion, concluding that…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17G0433
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2001, appellant SunTrust Bank entered into a loan agreement with L-T Adventures, Inc. (“LTA”); this agreement did not include an arbitration provision. In 2005, SunTrust entered into a subsequent agreement with Jedon…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17G0641
Justia Opinion Summary: High school student Antoine Williams tragically died after engaging in horseplay with another student while his teacher was out of their classroom. Antoine’s parents, appellants Jena Barnett and Marc Williams filed a…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17G0692
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Georgia Supreme Court’s review centered on the proper statutory interpretation of the Recreational Property Act, OCGA 51-3-20 et seq. (RPA), which shields from potential liability…
Date: January 29, 2018
Docket Number: S17G1097
Justia Opinion Summary: After RAC Acceptance East, LLC swore out a warrant for Mira Brown’s arrest for theft by conversion of furniture that she had rented from RAC, Brown filed a lawsuit against RAC alleging malicious prosecution and other…
Date: January 16, 2018
Docket Number: S16H1197
Justia Opinion Summary: The Georgia Supreme Court normally issues summary denials of habeas applications by unpublished order. However, “there appears to be significant misunderstanding of the process by which this Court renders these decisions…
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