Georgia CommonsCourt opinions
Georgia Supreme Court decisions with plain-language summaries. Browse by year and case type, or search by case name.
Alston & Bird, LLP v. Hatcher Management Holdings, LLC
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that Georgia's fault-sharing statute lets juries reduce damages based on a nonparty's blame only when a lawsuit names more than one defendant, and it ruled that litigation expense awards for bad faith can also be divided by fault.
Ellis v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Walker County man's murder conviction, ruling that his drug use during a police interview did not invalidate his waiver of Miranda rights and that his lawyer was not ineffective for letting a detective narrate surveillance footage.
Harvey v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the denial of an out-of-time appeal for a woman who pleaded guilty to murdering her grandparents as a teenager, finding her plea lawyer was not constitutionally deficient in handling her appeal rights.
Hinton v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's murder and armed robbery convictions but vacated one aggravated assault conviction that should have been folded into the armed robbery charge.
In the Matter of Matthew A. Bryan
The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred a lawyer named Matthew Alexander Bryan after he was already disbarred in Montana for mishandling a trust worth about $398,000 and lying about his law practice.
In the Matter of Timothy Walter Boyd
The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred attorney Timothy Walter Boyd after he mishandled an estate matter, secretly diverting more than $29,000 in unauthorized fees from money meant for a grieving family.
Moss v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Lenny Moss's murder conviction, ruling that his trial lawyer's earlier, unrelated representation of a State witness did not create a conflict of interest that hurt his defense.
State v. OWENS (And Vice Versa)
The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a trial court's decision to grant a new trial to a man convicted of felony murder, ruling that the jury's guilty and not guilty verdicts were not legally contradictory.
Terry-Hall v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the denial of a man's request for an out-of-time appeal from his guilty plea, ruling he never told the trial court his lawyer had cost him a chance to appeal.
Thompson v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Swainsboro man's felony murder conviction, ruling the trial judge was right to refuse a jury instruction on voluntary manslaughter because the evidence showed fear, not sudden passion.
Thornton v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld William Denzel Thornton's murder and armed robbery convictions in the stabbing death of Jullisa Cooke, rejecting his claims about insufficient evidence, trial errors, and a denied request for a trial continuance.
Tiraboschi v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a state prison inmate's murder conviction for strangling his cellmate, ruling that even if evidence of his prior crimes was wrongly admitted, the mistake did not affect the verdict.
Townsend v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Whitfield County man's murder convictions, ruling that his trial lawyers did not perform unreasonably by choosing an insanity defense over asking the jury to consider a lesser voluntary manslaughter charge.
Vivian v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Nathaniel Vivian's convictions for felony murder, armed robbery, and related crimes in the shooting death of Daniel Zeitz, rejecting his self-representation and ineffective-counsel claims, but sent the case back for resentencing because he was wrongly sentenced on two felony murder counts for one victim.
Walker v. the States
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's felony murder conviction, rejecting his claim of self-defense and his arguments that the trial court and his own lawyer made key mistakes at trial.
Williams v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Chatham County man's murder convictions, ruling that a witness's slightly different testimony given after trial did not entitle him to a new trial.
Hughes v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Forsyth County man's felony murder conviction, rejecting claims about admitted evidence, ineffective trial counsel, and the denial of pretrial immunity from prosecution.
In the Matter of James Archie Barnett
The Supreme Court of Georgia approved James Archie Barnett's application to be certified fit to practice law again, more than two decades after he was disbarred for abandoning clients and ignoring bar investigators.
In the Matter of Joel S. Wadsworth
The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred attorney Joel S. Wadsworth after he abandoned several clients in a Fulton County lawsuit, failing to respond to court motions or communicate with them while continuing to practice after becoming ineligible for not paying his bar dues.
YOUNG v. THE STATE 6-24-2021 Substitute Opinion Issued.
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed Rodney Young's murder conviction and death sentence, rejecting his argument that Georgia's requirement that defendants prove intellectual disability beyond a reasonable doubt is unconstitutional.