Georgia CommonsCourt opinions
Georgia Supreme Court decisions with plain-language summaries. Browse by year and case type, or search by case name.
Davis v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the denial of a man's request for a late appeal from his 1997 guilty plea, finding his lawyer's failure to discuss appeal rights was not unreasonable given the circumstances.
Gardner v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Waycross man's felony murder conviction, ruling his trial lawyer was not ineffective for skipping a voluntary manslaughter instruction and instead pursuing an all-or-nothing self-defense strategy.
Golden v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Houston County man's felony murder conviction for a fatal motel robbery, finding the evidence sufficient and rejecting challenges to his police interview and to testimony implicating him in a prior robbery.
Heinze v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the convictions of a Glynn County man for the murders of eight members of his family and neighbors, ruling that he had agreed to the removal of a disruptive juror and could not now challenge that decision on appeal.
Lanier v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed Antonio Lanier's murder and armed robbery convictions, rejecting his claims that accomplice testimony was uncorroborated, that his lawyer was ineffective, and that the trial judge mishandled evidence and jury selection.
Lopez v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Nicolas Lopez's murder conviction, rejecting his self-represented claims that his lawyer had a conflict of interest, provided ineffective assistance, and that the trial judge and jury process were flawed.
Schell v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Wayne County woman's murder and kidnapping convictions for drowning her mother in a submerged car, finding the circumstantial evidence excluded any reasonable theory of innocence.
Thrift v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Ware County man's felony murder conviction in the 1991 disappearance of his cousin, ruling that his repeated confessions to killing the victim were enough evidence even though no body was ever found.
ALLEN v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the murder convictions of two men who robbed a Summerville convenience store and killed the clerk, finding that any evidentiary errors at trial were harmless given the overwhelming evidence of guilt.
Bonner v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a Richmond County man's motion to withdraw his guilty plea was filed too late for the trial court to decide, so it threw out the trial court's ruling and ordered the motion dismissed instead.
Casey v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the sufficiency of the evidence in a Lowndes County murder case but ruled the trial judge never actually performed the independent review required when weighing a new trial motion.
Hughes v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Lawrence Hughes's felony murder and related convictions, rejecting his claims that the evidence was too weak, the jury instructions were flawed, and his trial lawyer was ineffective.
In the Matter of Thomas William Veach
The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted an attorney's request for an 18-month suspension after he admitted mishandling estate funds and failing to pay a Medicaid lienholder more than $27,000 owed from an estate settlement.
Inquiry Concerning Judge Robert M. Crawford
The Supreme Court of Georgia dismissed a judicial discipline case against a former Griffin Circuit superior court judge, declining to impose a lifetime ban on holding judicial office after he had already resigned.
Merritt v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Muscogee County man's murder conviction for shooting a former friend, finding no ineffective assistance by his lawyer and no error in the trial court's jury instructions.
Morris v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Clarke County man's felony murder conviction, ruling that the evidence at trial was more than enough for the jury to reject his claim of self-defense.
Smallwood v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Paulding County man's felony conviction for entering an automobile, ruling the statute is not unconstitutionally vague and that the more lenient criminal trespass law does not apply to his case.
Thornton v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a man's convictions for obstructing a game warden, ruling that state game wardens have authority to enforce Georgia's traffic rules and that evidence showed the gas station parking lot where the incident occurred was customarily used as a through street.
Wilcox v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Ware County man's convictions for rape, malice murder, burglary, and other crimes tied to the brutal home invasion killing of Suzanne Stilwell, finding the evidence overwhelming.
Lowery v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a man's felony murder conviction for a Montgomery County sheriff's death during a high-speed chase, ruling the evidence and his police interview statements were properly admitted.