Georgia CommonsCourt opinions
Georgia Supreme Court decisions with plain-language summaries. Browse by year and case type, or search by case name.
Jones v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Dougherty County man's felony murder convictions, ruling that the jury was entitled to disbelieve his claim of self-defense provocation and find the shooting unprovoked.
Lewis v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Didrekeus Lewis's murder conviction for the shooting death of Marvin Printup, rejecting challenges to eyewitness identification evidence, a denied mistrial motion, and his trial lawyer's performance.
STANLEY v. PATTERSON
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that court employees who failed to pull a canceled bind-over order from a stack of files were not shielded by quasi-judicial immunity, because that mistake was a clerical slip-up, not a judge-like decision.
State v. Brown
The Supreme Court of Georgia sent a Fulton County self-defense immunity ruling back to the trial court because the record does not show whether the judge ever decided if a man accused of murder could also claim immunity on the related armed robbery charge.
State v. Burton
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a trial court's decision to suppress statements a 16-year-old made to police after his murder arrest, ruling the State failed to prove he knowingly and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights.
Thomas v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed Derrico Thomas's murder conviction, ruling that although the trial court wrongly let jurors hear about a prior shooting, that mistake did not affect the verdict given the strong evidence against him.
Torres v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a bench trial murder conviction of Luis Torres, ruling that his statements to police were properly admitted and that his double jeopardy claim about being retried could not be reviewed because he never raised it below.
Warren v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Brandon Warren's murder conviction, ruling his trial lawyer's failure to object to the prosecutor's closing argument and his advice about testifying did not amount to ineffective assistance.
Williams v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Richmond County man's murder conviction, rejecting his self-defense claim, his argument about an accomplice's guilty plea, and his claim that a 25-month delay before his retrial violated his right to a speedy trial.
DOUGLAS COE v. PROSKAUER ROSE LLP
The Supreme Court of Georgia revived a family's lawsuit against their former law firm over a tax shelter, ruling that fraud and negligent misrepresentation claims must be timed separately from legal malpractice claims and that a jury, not a judge, should decide whether they missed the filing deadline.
Garcia-Jarquin v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Cherokee County man's convictions for murder and aggravated assault, ruling that jurors could find he threatened a bystander with a gun even though he never pointed it directly at him.
In the Matter of Andrew Matteson
The Supreme Court of Georgia rejected an attorney's request to accept a three- to six-month suspension for mishandling client funds and abandoning cases, because he gave the court no proof of his mental health claims or that he had made his clients whole.
Mitchell v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Kashawn Mitchell's murder conviction in the killing of Jaron Acklin, rejecting arguments that the evidence was too weak and that his police interview statements should have been suppressed.
Peacock v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Jeffrey Peacock's convictions for murdering five friends and burning their home, rejecting his claims that the evidence was too weak, his truck search was unlawful, and his lawyer botched his defense.
Reed v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Jaquavious Reed's murder conviction over claims about a decade-long appeal delay, unrecorded bench conferences, and missing evidence, but ordered his felony murder sentence vacated as duplicative.
Benton v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a man's 1990 first-offender drug sentence did not count as a felony conviction for recidivist sentencing purposes, even though a judge had revoked his probation three times without ever formally adjudicating him guilty.
Adkins v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Marion Adkins Jr.'s murder conviction for the shooting death of Latisha Gresham, finding the circumstantial evidence was enough to rule out both an unknown intruder and suicide.
Albury v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Riki Ray Albury's murder conviction, rejecting claims that jurors should have been excused, that a graphic autopsy photo was wrongly admitted, and that his trial lawyer performed poorly.
Benton v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a man's 1990 first-offender drug conviction could not count as a prior felony for recidivist sentencing purposes because his probation revocations never amounted to a formal adjudication of guilt.
Bonner v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Bibb County man's murder conviction, rejecting his claim that his trial lawyer was constitutionally ineffective for not chasing down alibi evidence, cross-examining certain witnesses, or calling defense witnesses.