Georgia CommonsCourt opinions
Georgia Supreme Court decisions with plain-language summaries. Browse by year and case type, or search by case name.
Rutledge v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia sent a Houston County man's request for an out-of-time appeal of his guilty plea back for a hearing, ruling the trial court could not deny it without first checking whether his lawyer's mistakes caused him to miss his appeal deadline.
Sanchious v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia sent a child molestation case back to the Court of Appeals after finding it wrongly treated a hearsay objection to DNA evidence as a constitutional confrontation issue instead.
State v. GRIER (And Vice Versa)
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a trial judge's decision to grant a new trial to a man convicted of felony murder, finding the judge acted within his discretion as a 'thirteenth juror' in weighing the evidence.
State v. Hinton
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a trial court's decision to suppress statements a homicide suspect made to a detective, finding the State never proved the suspect had reinitiated talking after invoking his right to stay silent.
Stephens v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Clayton County man's murder conviction, ruling the trial judge properly excused a prospective juror who appeared to be a convicted felon whose voting and civil rights had not been restored.
Styles v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Michael Styles' felony murder and armed robbery convictions, rejecting his claims that accomplice testimony was uncorroborated and that his trial lawyer was ineffective.
Thomas v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County man's murder conviction, ruling the trial judge properly rejected his claim that prosecutors used peremptory strikes to remove Black jurors because of race.
Young v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Gwinnett County man's murder conviction in a pizza delivery robbery gone wrong, rejecting his challenges to his police interview statements, a Facebook photo, and his lawyer's performance.
In the Matter of Neil Richard Flit
The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted an Atlanta-area attorney's request to give up his law license after he admitted holding onto client settlement funds for years without paying them out or explaining what happened to the money.
Davenport v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Brian Colby Davenport's murder conviction in the death of Debora Lynn Abney, finding the evidence sufficient and any evidentiary errors harmless, while also announcing it will stop automatically reviewing evidence sufficiency in non-death penalty murder appeals.
Calmer v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Monroe County man's murder conviction for killing a sheriff's deputy, finding no error in the jury instructions given or refused and no basis for pretrial immunity from prosecution.
Lofton v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a teenager's felony murder conviction in the killing of a pizza delivery driver, ruling that trial errors and even the prosecutor's improper appeals to jury sympathy did not outweigh the strong evidence of guilt.
Middleton v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a man convicted of both hijacking a car and receiving that same stolen car cannot legally hold both convictions, because the two verdicts contradict each other. The court also held he did not need to object at trial to raise the problem later.
Pounds v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia dismissed a murder appeal because the trial court never validly ruled on the defendant's motion for new trial, and in doing so overruled prior cases that had allowed such invalid rulings to stand.
BOWDEN v. THE MEDICAL CENTER (And Vice Versa)
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a class action against a Georgia hospital over its billing rates could not proceed, and that uninsured patients could not sue for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, or racketeering just because the hospital charged its standard rate.
Barboza v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Cobb County man's murder and armed robbery convictions, rejecting his claims that the trial judge improperly commented on a co-defendant's plea deal and that evidence of his prior crimes was wrongly admitted.
Burney v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Terrence Burney's malice murder conviction in the death of a 76-year-old Jones County man, rejecting claims about jury instructions, a delayed trial, and a juror who looked up legal terms online.
Dunbar v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Savannah woman's murder conviction, rejecting her self-defense claim and finding no error in admitting an AK-47 found in her home or testimony about withdrawn consent to search.
FRAZEN v. DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF ATLANTA
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a trial court's approval of up to $1.25 billion in revenue bonds to help finance The Gulch redevelopment project in downtown Atlanta, rejecting citizens' challenges to the process and the funding structure.
Frazier v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Damon Frazier's malice murder conviction for the shooting of Corey Echols, rejecting his claims that the evidence was too thin, that prior-crime evidence was wrongly admitted, and that his lawyer was ineffective.