Georgia CommonsCourt opinions
Georgia Supreme Court decisions with plain-language summaries. Browse by year and case type, or search by case name.
In the Matter of Diana Y. McDonald
The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred a solo practitioner who lied to a client's counterparty and to the State Bar about $4 million held in her trust account while secretly spending much of it herself.
In the Matter of Emily C. Williams
The Supreme Court of Georgia suspended attorney Emily C. Williams from practicing law for 91 days after she was disciplined in Florida for neglecting clients and other misconduct, matching the punishment Florida had already imposed.
OMSTEAD v. BPG INSPECTION, LLC
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a home inspection company's contract clause barring lawsuits more than one year after an inspection is enforceable, even against a wrongful death claim that arose after the year ran out.
Starship Enterprises of Atlanta, Inc. v. Gwinnett County
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a 2020 constitutional waiver of sovereign immunity did cover an adult-store owner's lawsuit against Gwinnett County, but threw out the suit anyway because the store had already lost the same fight in an earlier case.
State v. LOPEZ-CARDONA
The Supreme Court of Georgia sent back a Gwinnett County judge's rulings suppressing two murder suspects' police statements, finding the judge's fact-findings were too thin to review whether the men understood and waived their Miranda rights.
Tatum v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that courts applying the independent source doctrine must decide whether police decided to seek a search warrant because of an earlier illegal search, not just whether the warrant application had enough evidence on its own.
SMITH v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that Georgia's civil forfeiture law requires the state to plead criminal allegations with the same detail needed to survive a challenge to a criminal indictment, and found the state's forfeiture complaint against a recycling family fell short on a theft charge.
Worth County School District v. Tibbetts
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a Worth County teacher's contract offer was valid and complete under state law, meaning his old contract was not automatically renewed and his breach of contract suit is barred by sovereign immunity.
Allen v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a man's murder conviction for beating his cousin to death, ruling the trial judge should have let the jury consider whether he acted from a sudden passion after discovering his fiancée's suspected affair.
Baker v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Kenneth Lee Baker's murder convictions for the deaths of his wife and stepdaughter, rejecting his claims that the evidence was too weak and that the trial judge should have given a special jury instruction and excluded certain photos and a notebook.
Gold v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County man's murder conviction, ruling the jury was properly instructed on excessive force in self-defense and that his lawyer was not ineffective for failing to raise certain objections at trial.
Harris v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the denial of a Richmond County woman's request to withdraw her guilty plea to murdering her boyfriend, finding the trial court properly determined her plea was knowing and voluntary despite her mental-health diagnoses.
Howard v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a defendant whose first-offender status is revoked and who is then formally adjudicated guilty and resentenced can appeal directly, without first asking permission through a discretionary application.
In the Matter of Ephraim L. Michael
The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted a lawyer's request for a public reprimand after he admitted his assistant negotiated a settlement without proper client consent and he failed to supervise her or keep in touch with his client.
JOHN DA GROSA SMITH v. RYAN MILLSAP
The Supreme Court of Georgia declined to review a Court of Appeals ruling about disbursing disputed funds held by a trial court, with a concurring opinion explaining why the lower court's decision was too narrow to raise a serious legal question.
Jones v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County man's felony murder conviction in the beating death of a woman he had arranged to pay for sex, rejecting challenges to the evidence, his decision not to testify, and his life sentence.
SMITH v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a $1 million civil forfeiture case against a metal recycling family must go back for further review because the State's complaint did not properly spell out the crime of theft by taking.
Sturkey v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Ricardo Sturkey's murder conviction, rejecting claims about a judge's trial questions, polygraph testimony, and ineffective assistance of counsel, while flagging a nearly 13-year delay in the appeal process.
Tarver v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a McDuffie County man's murder conviction, finding that even if the trial court wrongly excluded some evidence supporting his self-defense claim, those errors did not affect the jury's verdict.
Thomas v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a trial court could reconsider and vacate a years-old order suppressing cell phone location evidence in a murder case, because a new trial had wiped out the earlier final judgment.