Georgia CommonsCourt opinions
Georgia Supreme Court decisions with plain-language summaries. Browse by year and case type, or search by case name.
Harris v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Demartre Harris's felony murder and aggravated assault convictions arising from two drive-by shootings, rejecting his challenges to the evidence and his ineffective assistance claim.
ATLANTIC SPECIALTY INSURANCE COMPANY v. CITY OF COLLEGE PARK
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that an insurance policy's "immunity endorsements" mean the City of College Park's coverage for a fatal police chase crash tops out at $700,000, not the $5 million limit lower courts had found.
Anderson v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County man's murder conviction, ruling that evidence of an earlier attempted burglary was properly admitted and that his trial lawyer's decisions did not amount to constitutionally deficient representation.
Edible Ip, LLC v. Google, LLC
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that Edible Arrangements' owner cannot sue Google for theft, conversion, or racketeering just because Google auctions its trade name to advertisers as a keyword search term.
Fortson v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Demetruis Fortson's felony murder conviction, finding that circumstantial cell phone evidence and testimony about a distinctive dreadlocks hairstyle were enough for the jury to convict him despite no direct evidence placing him at either crime scene, over a dissent.
Grier v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a man's murder conviction for killing his girlfriend, finding that one piece of improperly admitted child hearsay testimony did not affect the trial's outcome and that his lawyer was not ineffective.
Harris v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Demartre Harris's felony murder conviction in a gang-related drive-by shooting, ruling the circumstantial evidence was enough and that his lawyer was not ineffective for skipping a key defense witness.
In the Matter of Jerry Boykin
The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted an Augusta-area attorney's request to give up his law license after he admitted forging a co-executor's signature on a probate court filing, a move treated the same as disbarment.
Maddox v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a man's murder conviction, ruling he gave up his right to challenge a joint trial where he faced a jury while his co-defendant was tried by the judge, and that the trial judge properly refused to separate the two trials.
Martinez-Arias v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a school counselor's testimony about supposed Latino and Mexican cultural attitudes toward sexual abuse should not have been admitted at a child molestation trial, but found the error harmless and upheld the conviction.
Morrell v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Chatham County man's murder conviction, ruling that a witness's recorded police statements could be used against him because he was responsible for that witness's refusal to testify, and that evidence of related witness intimidation was properly admitted.
Sanders v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia partly upheld and partly threw out a murder indictment against Kelly Sanders, ruling that three of six counts were too vague to survive a special demurrer while rejecting the State's claim that her appeal was moot.
Shelton v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld James Shelton's malice murder conviction in the death of Manuel Palmer, rejecting arguments that the evidence was insufficient and that his trial lawyers were constitutionally deficient for not pursuing a criminal-responsibility evaluation.
Ward v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Greene County man's murder conviction for killing his girlfriend, rejecting his claims that the evidence was too weak and that hearsay testimony and ineffective trial counsel warranted a new trial.
Ware v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a man's motion challenging his 2012 murder indictment came far too late, since Georgia law requires such motions to be filed during the same court term as the judgment.
Williams v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the murder conviction of a gang leader who orchestrated a drive-by shooting, rejecting his claims of insufficient evidence, wrongly admitted jail calls, and a wrongly denied mistrial.
Wilson v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Camden County man's murder conviction, rejecting his claim that his trial lawyer was ineffective for not objecting to hearsay testimony and for arguing an accident defense.
Brennan v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a woman's felony murder conviction for the scalding death of her young stepdaughter, ruling that a private plea-negotiation conference and a judge's brief comment to a detective did not violate her rights.
GARDEI v. CONWAY
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a man challenging Georgia's sex offender registry requirements is not too late to sue, because he only seeks to stop future enforcement, not to undo past registrations.
In the Matter of Anthony O. Van Johnson
The Supreme Court of Georgia suspended attorney Anthony O. Van Johnson for six months after he mishandled settlement funds and delayed a client's contempt and name-change filings, accepting his petition for voluntary discipline.