Georgia CommonsCourt opinions
Georgia Supreme Court decisions with plain-language summaries. Browse by year and case type, or search by case name.
Miller v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Peach County man's murder conviction for the shooting death of a two-year-old boy, ruling the evidence was enough even though no one proved whose bullet actually struck the child.
Preston v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Keyondre Preston's murder and armed robbery convictions from a fatal shooting at a Newton County home, rejecting his challenges to the evidence, prior-crimes testimony, and jury instructions.
SOCKWELL CORNERS, LLC v. NEWTON COUNTY
The Supreme Court of Georgia dismissed a Newton County landowner's appeal challenging a zoning denial because it was filed as a direct appeal instead of the required discretionary application, ruling that recent statutory changes did not eliminate that requirement.
STATE OF GEORGIA v. FEDERAL DEFENDER PROGRAM, INC.
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a COVID-19 vaccine agreement pausing certain executions does not require FDA approval of the vaccine for every age group, reversing a lower court order that had kept the pause in place indefinitely.
Sheffield v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Coffee County man's malice murder conviction in his wife's shooting death, but sent his speedy-trial claim back to the trial court because the judge miscalculated the delay and did not properly assign blame for it.
Sims v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's malice murder conviction for a burglary-turned-fatal-shooting, rejecting challenges to evidence, jury selection, joint trial, and his lawyer's performance.
Tabb v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Joseph Tabb's murder conviction in the shooting death of a driver-for-hire, rejecting his claims that the evidence was insufficient, that he was wrongly shackled at trial, and that his lawyer was ineffective.
Williams v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County man's murder conviction for stabbing his mother, rejecting claims that his lawyer should have pursued a mental illness defense and that the judge should have stopped the trial to check his competency.
Abebe v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Henry County man's murder conviction, ruling the trial judge properly refused to tell the jury to decide whether his statements to police violated his Miranda rights or were involuntary.
Benson v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Cobb County man's murder conviction for shooting his girlfriend's brother, rejecting claims about a missing written immunity order, denial of self-defense immunity, excluded prior-acts evidence, and his lawyer's trial strategy.
Burkett v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a trial court was wrong to dismiss a Glascock County man's request to file a late appeal of his 2006 guilty plea based on an old rule the legislature has since overridden.
Carridine v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Dexter Carridine's murder conviction from a 2016 Ware County trial, finding the evidence was sufficient and that he validly gave up his right to a lawyer after firing his appointed attorney.
Dennis v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Xavier Dennis's felony murder and attempted armed robbery convictions in a Chatham County shooting death, finding no merger error and no trial error affecting the outcome.
Haywood v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Bibb County man's malice murder conviction, ruling that prosecutors gave valid race-neutral reasons for removing Black jurors and that any error in refusing an involuntary manslaughter instruction was harmless.
Hodges v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Jerry Hodges's convictions for a 2007 Fulton County murder, ruling that a brief clip of his arrest video was properly admitted and that his lawyer was not ineffective for not objecting to it.
In the Matter of Brandon Andrew Cline
The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted an Atlanta-area lawyer's request to permanently give up his law license after he admitted misusing client trust account money and abandoning a client facing an arrest warrant.
In the Matter of Charles M. Dalziel, Jr
The Supreme Court of Georgia ordered a six-month suspension for attorney Charles M. Dalziel Jr. for disclosing a client's confidential information and filing a frivolous lawsuit against a law firm to try to collect his fees.
In the Matter of Clifford E. Hardwick, IV
The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred Clifford E. Hardwick, IV after finding he lied to State Bar investigators about letting a former criminal client use his bank accounts to funnel $655,000 from 14 fraud victims.
In the Matter of Hillman James Toombs
The Supreme Court of Georgia suspended a longtime Georgia lawyer for two years after finding he lied to a client and to the State Bar about filing a motion in a divorce case's attorney fee dispute.
In the Matter of Matthew Jason Anderson
The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred attorney Matthew Jason Anderson after he failed to pay settlement funds owed to clients and medical providers in four personal injury cases and lied about it to a client and the State Bar.