Georgia CommonsCourt opinions
Georgia Supreme Court decisions with plain-language summaries. Browse by year and case type, or search by case name.
In the Matter of Don Smart
The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted a Savannah attorney's request to permanently surrender his law license after he pleaded guilty to stealing more than $500,000 from an estate he was handling.
Nelson v. Wilkey
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a habeas court's decision to void a Bartow County man's guilty plea, ruling his lawyer's failure to tell him he could still withdraw the plea before sentencing amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel.
PRIESTER v. THE STATE (And Vice Versa)
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Vernon Priester's murder conviction and ruled that testimony about his drug dealing was properly admitted, while also siding with the State on how his sentence should be calculated for shooting Heyward's parents.
REID v. MORRIS
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that Georgia's punitive damages law does not automatically limit uncapped punitive damages to only the drunk driver in a car crash case, opening the door to punitive damages against the man who lent his car.
Raines v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a judge, not a jury, can decide whether a person who committed murder as a teenager is so 'irreparably corrupt' that he can be sentenced to life without parole.
STEPP-McCOMMONS v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a man's felony murder conviction for a fatal shooting during a botched cell phone robbery, rejecting his arguments about missing jury instructions and his lawyer's performance.
Smith v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a woman's felony murder conviction for shooting her husband, ruling that even if the trial court wrongly blocked some hearsay testimony about past abuse, the error was harmless given other evidence already before the jury.
Strong v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed Aaron Strong's murder and assault convictions, ruling the trial court wrongly let jurors hear years of unrelated violent acts he allegedly committed, evidence that was too prejudicial and not properly relevant to the stabbing case.
Williams v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Norcross man's felony murder conviction for shooting a woman he was having an affair with, rejecting his claims about jury instructions and his lawyer's performance.
Crowder v. State of Georgia
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that Georgia law allows officials to serve out-of-state property owners by publishing notice in a newspaper in civil forfeiture cases, but courts must first address any due process objections and cannot skip a required ruling on a motion for a more definite statement.
Dobbins v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's murder conviction, rejecting his claims that the evidence was too weak, that a prosecutor's slip about a prior trial should have caused a mistrial, and that his lawyer was constitutionally ineffective.
FRETT v. STATE FARM EMPLOYEE WORKERS' COMPENSATION
The Supreme Court of Georgia overruled an 85-year-old precedent and ruled that a State Farm employee who slipped and fell in a breakroom during her scheduled lunch break can seek workers' compensation benefits.
GARDHIGH v. THE STATE (And Vice Versa)
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Floyd County man's voluntary manslaughter conviction for beating his former boss to death over unpaid wages, and rejected the State's attempt to have him convicted of felony murder instead.
Glover v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Savannah man's murder conviction, rejecting his claims that his lawyer should have objected to the prosecutor's closing argument and that hearsay testimony was wrongly admitted.
Heard v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a Clayton County man's murder and armed robbery convictions, ruling that jurors should never have heard evidence that he committed an unrelated carjacking and kidnapping months later.
In the Matter of James Caleb Clarke III
The Supreme Court of Georgia certified James Caleb Clarke III, a former lawyer who surrendered his license in 2002 after admitting he stole money from an estate he managed, as fit to practice law again.
Mathis v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Nathaniel Mathis's murder conviction in the shooting of his sister's boyfriend, finding the evidence supported the jury's rejection of self-defense and that his trial lawyer was not ineffective.
Medina v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a jury's not guilty verdict on a malice murder charge became final the moment it was read in court, so a mistrial declared moments later could not undo it and the defendant cannot be retried for malice murder.
Newman v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the denial of a new trial for a man convicted of felony murder, rejecting a long list of claims that his trial lawyer provided ineffective assistance.
Redding v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia found that a Muscogee County judge never properly analyzed whether a man convicted in a fatal barbeque punch was denied his right to a speedy trial, so it sent the case back for a proper ruling.