Georgia CommonsCourt opinions
Georgia Supreme Court decisions with plain-language summaries. Browse by year and case type, or search by case name.
Wilmington Trust, National Association v. Ameritas Life Insurance Corp
The Supreme Court of Georgia clarified how courts should decide whether a third party, rather than the insured, actually obtained a life insurance policy, a question that determines whether the policy is an illegal wager on a human life.
In the Matter of Muhammad Abdul-Warit Abdur-Rahim
The Supreme Court of Georgia reinstated attorney Muhammad Abdul-Warit Abdur-Rahim to practice law after finding he had met the conditions the court had set for his return following an earlier interim suspension.
Biggs v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia vacated a Haralson County man's murder conviction proceedings, ruling the trial judge wrongly kept the jury from hearing that the victim had assaulted the defendant's future mother-in-law hours before the shooting.
Clark v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County man's murder conviction, ruling he waived his mistrial claim by not renewing it and that evidence of his jailhouse murder-for-hire plot against a witness was properly admitted.
FLAKES v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Jeffrey Flakes's murder conviction but reversed a new trial granted to his co-defendant Curtis Williams, ruling the prosecutor was not required to be disqualified even though she had once represented both men as a public defender.
Georgia Bone & Joint Surgeons, P.C. v. Keel
The Supreme Court of Georgia declined to hear an appeal in a medical malpractice case, but Justice Bethel wrote separately to explain why a prior ruling on expert testimony does not require a special jury instruction.
Gibson v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Dawson County man's convictions for killing his wife, rejecting his claim that his lawyer had an unexplained conflict of interest that undermined efforts to withdraw his guilty plea.
Graham v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Lowndes County man's felony murder conviction, rejecting claims that his trial lawyer was ineffective for not seeking certain jury instructions on self-defense and character evidence.
Huitron v. Toby, Warden
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the denial of habeas relief for a man convicted of murdering his three-year-old daughter, finding that even if his appeal lawyer had a conflict of interest, it did not actually hurt his defense.
In the Matter of Paul Jason York
The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted attorney Paul Jason York's petition to voluntarily surrender his law license, ending a disciplinary case after York admitted forging a judge's and prosecutor's signatures to help a client.
Jenkins v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia dismissed a man's direct appeal from the denial of his statutory speedy trial demand, ruling he was required to use interlocutory appeal procedures instead and that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case as filed.
Kerns v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County man's murder conviction, ruling that removing him from his own trial for disruptive behavior and denying his repeated requests for a new attorney were within the trial judge's discretion.
NBCUNIVERSAL MEDIA, LLC v. WALKER
The Supreme Court of Georgia dismissed NBCUniversal's appeal of a $500,000 garnishment default judgment because the trial court never actually ruled on the constitutional questions NBCUniversal raised, so the high court had no jurisdiction to hear the case.
Riley v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Zajaliq Riley's felony murder conviction, ruling the State had no leniency deal with a key witness to disclose before trial and that his attorney's failure to probe the witness's separate pending charges did not affect the verdict.
SHELLS v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the murder and robbery convictions of Lewis Shells and Marcus Leslie, rejecting challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence, trial procedures, evidence rulings, and claims that their lawyers were ineffective.
State v. Lee
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a trial court's ruling that a murder suspect's confession cannot be used against him at trial because police kept questioning him after he had refused to talk, but the court said the confession can still be used to challenge him if he testifies.
Taylor v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County woman's murder conviction, rejecting her claim that her trial lawyer failed to explore whether her codefendant was actually the shooter, because her appeal lacked evidence to support that claim.
Welsch v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Lowndes County man's murder convictions in a bench trial shooting death of two men, rejecting his claims that the evidence was too weak and that testimony about the victim's dying words was wrongly admitted.
Graham v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Lowndes County man's murder and firearm convictions, rejecting his claims that his trial lawyer should have requested additional jury instructions on self-defense theories and character evidence.
State v. Lee
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County judge's decision to suppress a murder suspect's confession, ruling that police kept questioning him after he invoked his right to remain silent instead of waiting for him to genuinely reopen the conversation.