Georgia CommonsCourt opinions
Georgia Supreme Court decisions with plain-language summaries. Browse by year and case type, or search by case name.
Pounds v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld William Pounds's malice murder conviction for killing Kendra Jackson, rejecting his claims that the evidence was insufficient, that certain testimony was wrongly admitted, and that his trial lawyer was ineffective.
Starks v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Joseph Starks's felony murder conviction from a fatal high-speed police chase, rejecting his claim that his lawyer should have pursued medical evidence instead of intoxication as an explanation for his unconsciousness.
Capote v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia dismissed its own grant of review in a Gwinnett County man's appeal, deciding this case was not the right vehicle to settle whether Georgia's 'clearly erroneous' and 'any evidence' standards for reviewing trial court fact-finding in criminal cases are the same thing.
GEORGIA ASSOCIATION OF CLUB EXECUTIVES, INC. v. STATE OF GEORGIA (Two Cases)
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Georgia's one percent tax on adult entertainment clubs that combine nude dancing with alcohol sales, ruling the tax does not violate free speech rights because it targets the harms those businesses cause, not the dancing itself.
Jones v. City of Atlanta
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a trial court wrongly dismissed a resident's lawsuit claiming Atlanta's water department secretly passes hidden taxes onto customers through two city ordinances, sending the case back for a proper review.
Miller v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Bryan Miller's murder conviction, ruling that evidence of two earlier violent incidents with his wife was properly used to show a pattern in their relationship, despite Miller's claim that he shot her in self-defense.
WILLIAMS, CONGRESSWOMAN v. POWELL
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a state law that criminalizes disrupting General Assembly meetings, ruling that protesters and a state lawmaker arrested under it failed to show the law is unconstitutionally vague or overly broad under Georgia's free speech protections.
Whitaker Farms, LLC v. Fitzgerald Fruit Farms, LLC
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that statements a farm owner made during settlement talks cannot be used to prove liability for punitive damages, reversing a Court of Appeals decision that had allowed such evidence at a peach farm trespass trial.
GEORGIA ASSOCIATION OF CLUB EXECUTIVES, INC. v. STATE OF GEORGIA (Two Cases)
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Georgia's 1% tax on adult entertainment establishments that combine nude dancing with alcohol sales, ruling the tax does not violate the First Amendment.
WILLIAMS, CONGRESSWOMAN v. POWELL
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Georgia law that criminalizes disrupting legislative sessions and meetings at the State Capitol, rejecting arguments that the law is unconstitutionally vague or overly broad under Georgia's free speech protections.
BAKER v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the murder convictions of Prentice Baker and Verlaine Laguerre, rejecting arguments that jurors needed a special warning about a witness who may have been an accomplice and that a lawyer's failure to object to fearful testimony was ineffective.
CAMPBELL v. THE STATE (Four Cases)
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the murder and gang convictions of four Chatham County men, finding that although the trial court made a couple of errors in admitting evidence and instructing the jury, those errors did not affect the verdicts.
Georgia Department of Public Safety v. Justice
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a state trooper's written job offer and acceptance email are enough to waive the state's sovereign immunity for a breach of contract lawsuit over unpaid overtime, but sent the case back to decide whether the overtime terms were actually part of that contract.
Gonzalez v. Miller
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that the Open Records Act applies to district attorneys' offices and allowed a citizen's public records lawsuit against Athens-area District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez to move forward.
In the Matter of John Weimann Oxendine
The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted the voluntary surrender of law license from John Weimann Oxendine after his felony conviction for conspiracy to commit health care fraud, effectively disbarring him.
MOORE v. WHITE, WARDEN
The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed the denial of habeas relief to a man convicted of first-degree burglary, agreeing with the state that his appellate lawyer should have challenged the indictment for failing to allege he entered a dwelling.
Steel v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a contempt order against defense attorney Brian Steel, ruling that because the trial judge delayed punishment and was personally involved in the dispute, due process required a different judge to hear the contempt case.
TITSHAW v. GEER
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a claim for breach of a written legal-services contract can follow either a four-year or six-year time limit depending on the facts, rejecting the Court of Appeals' view that such claims must be tossed simply because they overlap with a barred malpractice claim.
Burns v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that recorded jail phone calls a man made to a lawyer who briefly represented him only for a bond hearing were not protected by attorney-client privilege, so no Sixth Amendment violation occurred.
Espinosa v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the denial of a man's request to withdraw his guilty plea for stabbing his girlfriend's 15-year-old son to death, rejecting his claim that his lawyer should have advised him of an insanity defense.