Georgia CommonsCourt opinions
Georgia Supreme Court decisions with plain-language summaries. Browse by year and case type, or search by case name.
Outlaw v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Gwinnett County man's murder conviction, rejecting arguments that police should have had a search warrant for his cell phone records and that his jailhouse statements to his girlfriend were improperly used against him.
State v. THOMAS (And Vice Versa)
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a trial court's decision granting a new trial to a man convicted of murdering a drug buyer, ruling prosecutors failed to disclose a deal made with a key witness in violation of Brady v. Maryland.
State v. Walden
The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a ruling that had suppressed statements a Newton County woman made to investigators before receiving Miranda warnings, finding video evidence showed she was not in custody at the time.
Geico Indemnity Company v. Whiteside
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that GEICO can still be sued for failing to settle a claim against a driver it insured, even though that driver later failed to notify GEICO of the lawsuit against her, because GEICO's own conduct helped cause the notice failure.
In the Matter of Majd M. Ghanayem
The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred attorney Majd M. Ghanayem based on reciprocal discipline after Texas disbarred him for neglecting a client's case and forging a judge's signature on a fraudulent court order.
Acosta v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Forsyth County man's murder conviction in the death of a six-year-old boy, ruling his pre-arrest statements to police were properly used and that he was not entitled to a lesser-charge jury instruction.
Agee v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's malice murder conviction, rejecting his claims that recanted eyewitness identifications made the evidence insufficient and that his jury trial waiver was invalid.
Anthony v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Terrone Anthony's murder and armed robbery convictions, rejecting his claims that his trial lawyer botched his defense by putting him on the stand and conceding guilt on lesser charges.
Bedford v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the murder convictions of two men, Million Bedford and Yaheed Brooks, rejecting challenges to the evidence, a closing-argument comment, a juvenile confession, alleged witness bolstering, and denial of added ineffective-assistance claims.
Geico Indemnity Company v. Whiteside
The Supreme Court of Georgia answered three certified questions in a dispute over GEICO's failure to settle a bicyclist's injury claim, ruling that an insured's failure to notify the insurer of a lawsuit does not automatically shield the insurer from a bad-faith failure-to-settle claim when the insurer's own conduct contributed to that failure.
Gobert v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Walker County man's felony murder conviction for shooting a man who was fleeing his property after a fight, rejecting his self-defense and trial-error claims.
In THE MATTER OF CYNTHIA ANN LAIN (Five Cases)
The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred an attorney who repeatedly missed court dates, misled judges, ignored client needs, and stonewalled the State Bar's own disciplinary investigation across five separate cases.
In the Matter of Majd M. Ghanayem
The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred a lawyer after Texas disciplinary authorities found he forged a judge's signature on a fake court order to hide his neglect of a client's parental rights case.
In the Matter of Misty Oaks Paxton
The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted a voluntary discipline petition from attorney Misty Oaks Paxton and imposed a Review Board reprimand after she admitted mishandling a disabled veteran's foreclosure defense case.
Smith v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Floyd County man's murder conviction, ruling that a trial judge does not have to state on the record each factor supporting admission of hearsay evidence under the residual hearsay exception.
Truett v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the murder conviction of a man who beat his girlfriend's two-year-old son to death, ruling that limits placed on his character witnesses' testimony, even if erroneous, did not affect the outcome.
Vann v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld an Appling County man's murder conviction, rejecting his claim that his trial lawyer should have asked for a jury instruction on the lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter.
In the Matter of Edward Shuff Cook
The Supreme Court of Georgia imposed a public reprimand, not a suspension, on an attorney who repeatedly transferred client settlement funds out of his law firm's trust account before the funds were properly available.
Brandon v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a man's murder conviction for killing his stepson, ruling he could not challenge a jury-selection restriction because his lawyer never objected to it at trial.
Byers v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Christopher Byers's murder and aggravated battery convictions in the ax killing of Ray Walnoha, but ruled his felony tampering-with-evidence conviction should have been a misdemeanor and sent that part of the case back for resentencing.