Georgia CommonsCourt opinions
Georgia Supreme Court decisions with plain-language summaries. Browse by year and case type, or search by case name.
Montgomery v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the murder conviction of Gregory Montgomery, rejecting his claims that the trial judge gave a flawed jury recharge and should have granted a new trial as a 'thirteenth juror.'
Ridley v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's murder conviction, rejecting his arguments that the evidence was too weak, that the trial judge ignored his duty as an independent fact-finder, and that the prosecutor's closing argument was improper.
State v. Kenney
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a trial judge's decision to keep out a witness's secondhand account of a fatal shooting, ruling the prosecution had waived some of its arguments and lost on the rest.
Whited v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a father's convictions for the death of his seven-week-old daughter, ruling the trial judge did not commit reversible error in the jury instructions or in allowing a recorded jail call into evidence.
Wright v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Coffee County man's felony murder conviction in the shooting death of Oletha Brady, rejecting claims that the evidence was insufficient and that a standard jury instruction on good character evidence was flawed.
BARNHILL v. ALFORD
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a grandmother could still seek visitation with her granddaughter even after the child's stepmother adopted her, and upheld the grandparent visitation law's clear-and-convincing-evidence standard as constitutional.
Ballinger, Warden v. Watkins
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a habeas court's decision to grant Joseph Watkins a new trial after finding that a juror secretly drove the crime route herself during deliberations to test the state's timeline theory.
Caviston v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a man's murder conviction for killing his 92-year-old mother, ruling that letting the jury hear he had written a novel called 'The Philosophy of Murder' did not require a new trial.
Davis v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's murder conviction, rejecting his claims that his speedy trial rights were violated, that evidence about the victim's friend was wrongly excluded, and that his lawyer was ineffective.
Harvey v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a Fayette County woman's second attempt to reopen her 2005 guilty pleas to murdering her grandparents came far too late, and that trial courts no longer have any power to rule on out-of-time appeal motions at all.
In the Matter of Tamorra A. Boyd
The Supreme Court of Georgia sent an attorney discipline case back for a hearing on whether a default judgment against a Georgia lawyer should be lifted, finding she had not simply ignored the State Bar's investigation.
MITCHELL v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the murder convictions of Taiquan Mitchell and Deon Dorsey, rejecting claims that the evidence was too weak and that a mistrial should have been granted after two jurors were seen sipping alcoholic drinks at lunch.
Moore v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's murder conviction, rejecting claims that his trial lawyer was ineffective and that the judge improperly pressured a co-defendant to testify or commented on the evidence.
STATE OF GEORGIA v. FEDERAL DEFENDER PROGRAM, INC.
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that an email exchange between a deputy attorney general and death-penalty defense lawyers formed a valid written contract, letting a trial judge block Virgil Presnell's execution while the state honors that deal.
Smith v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a Gwinnett County man convicted of murdering his infant son is entitled to a hearing on his claim that new medical science undermines the shaken baby diagnosis used against him at trial.
Smith v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Lamar County man's malice murder conviction for shooting his neighbor, rejecting claims that the shooting was accidental, that evidence was wrongly admitted, and that his trial lawyer was ineffective.
TABOR v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the murder convictions of Tyree Tabor and Donny Spear, rejecting claims that their lawyers were constitutionally deficient and that the trial judge wrongly denied a request to try the two men separately.
Turner v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Coweta County man's murder conviction for shooting a fellow passenger in the back of the head, rejecting his argument that the witnesses against him were not believable.
Carter v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Houston County man's murder conviction for killing his 81-year-old grandmother, rejecting his claims that the evidence was too weak and that his lawyer and the trial court mishandled hearsay testimony.
Eaker v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Cherokee County man's murder conviction, rejecting his claims that his lawyer should have pursued an accidental-gun-malfunction defense and that new evidence justified a new trial.