Georgia CommonsCourt opinions
Georgia Supreme Court decisions with plain-language summaries. Browse by year and case type, or search by case name.
LYNN B. GIVENS v. CORAL HOSPITALITY-GA, LLC
The Supreme Court of Georgia granted the parties' joint request to withdraw this premises-liability appeal after they settled, ending the case without a ruling on the merits.
Green v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Tarus Malike Green's felony murder conviction in a Chatham County shooting, rejecting his claims about the evidence, jury access to cell phone records, and a witness's recorded statement.
In the Matter of Nevada Michael Tuggle
The Supreme Court of Georgia rejected a one-month suspension recommended for a Georgia lawyer who abandoned two clients, finding the discipline far too lenient given the severity of his misconduct, and sent the case back for more fact-finding before a harsher sanction is decided.
In the Matter of Samuel Elias Skelton
The Supreme Court of Georgia approved Samuel Elias Skelton's application to be certified as fit to practice law again, after he surrendered his law license in 2017 following a guilty plea for theft tied to addiction and mental health struggles.
Kuhlman v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a man convicted of federal health care fraud cannot get his gun rights restored under a narrow Georgia statute, but that Georgia's sovereign immunity does not block his lawsuit and his constitutional claims must still be considered by the trial court.
MOTORSPORTS OF CONYERS, LLC v. BURBACH
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that before a court can honor a contract's choice of another state's law to decide whether a non-compete clause is enforceable, it must first check whether that clause is reasonable under Georgia's own restrictive-covenants law.
Ruthenberg v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Cobb County man's murder conviction, ruling he did not properly object at trial to evidence of his prior battery convictions and could not show the evidence changed the outcome given overwhelming proof of his guilt.
Scott v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Diontye Scott's murder conviction, rejecting his claims that his trial lawyer was constitutionally ineffective for not requesting certain jury instructions and not objecting to the prosecutor's closing argument.
Wilkerson v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Sumter County man's felony murder conviction, rejecting his self-defense claim, his request for a voluntary manslaughter instruction, and his objections to testimony about his time in jail before trial.
Annunziata v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a man's murder conviction for a nightclub shooting, ruling the trial judge was right not to tell the jury it could convict him of the lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter instead.
Beltran-Gonzales v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Hays State Prison inmate's malice murder conviction for fatally stabbing another inmate, rejecting claims that the trial judge mishandled a jury recharge and that his lawyer should have sought a separate trial from his co-defendant.
Chaney v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the dismissal of a Fulton County man's extraordinary motion for new trial, ruling that claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel must be raised through habeas corpus, not this procedure.
Demuro v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Joshua DeMuro's murder conviction for shooting Kevin Gilman, ruling that the jury had enough evidence to reject his self-defense claim and finding no reversible error in the jury instructions.
HENDERSON v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the murder convictions of Demetre Mason and Frankland Henderson, rejecting challenges to trial evidence, a co-defendant's statement, and the decision to try them together.
HOSPITAL AUTHORITY OF WAYNE COUNTY v. AMERISOURCEBERGEN DRUG CORPORATION
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that the Hospital Authority of Wayne County cannot challenge the constitutionality of Georgia's opioid settlement law, because the law itself strips the authority of the power to pursue such claims.
Hatcher v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Liberty County man's murder conviction for shooting his wife, rejecting his claim that his trial lawyer was ineffective for not challenging a forensic expert's fiber testimony.
In the Interest of A. H., a Child
The Supreme Court of Georgia dismissed its own review of a juvenile delinquency sealing order, ruling that the certiorari grant had been improvident because the underlying legal question about 'void' orders was too unsettled and undeveloped to resolve here.
Jackson v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Bibb County man's murder conviction and related gang and firearm convictions, rejecting his claims that the evidence was weak, his lawyer was ineffective, and the judge should have instructed jurors on accomplice testimony.
Jackson v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Gwinnett County man's murder conviction, ruling that even if prosecutors improperly questioned him about staying silent after his arrest, the mistake made no real difference given overwhelming evidence he stabbed the victim.
Locklear v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Chatham County man's murder conviction, rejecting claims that his jailhouse statements should have been suppressed, that the jury verdict form was misleading, and that the prosecutor's closing remarks required a mistrial.