Georgia CommonsCourt opinions
Georgia Supreme Court decisions with plain-language summaries. Browse by year and case type, or search by case name.
Rosser v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's murder conviction, rejecting arguments about insufficient evidence, a denied mistrial motion, admission of his police statement, and ineffective assistance of counsel.
Spencer v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the murder convictions of a DeKalb County gang member, ruling that circumstantial evidence including fingerprints, cell phone records, and gunshot residue was enough to support the jury's verdict.
Styles v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Derrick Styles' murder and armed robbery convictions, ruling that a recorded phone call was properly admitted and that his lawyer was not ineffective for not objecting to a prosecutor's closing remark.
Whitehead v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Chatham County man's murder conviction, rejecting his self-defense claim and finding no error in admitting his police interview or in how a district attorney was handled during jury selection.
Collins v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's felony murder conviction for stabbing a 14-year-old to death, finding no error in a jury instruction telling jurors that revenge for a past wrong does not justify an attack.
Heyward v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's murder conviction, ruling that even if he deserved a voluntary manslaughter jury instruction, skipping it did not affect the verdict given the strength of the evidence against him.
Howard v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Richmond County man's murder conviction, ruling that a jury could reasonably find he killed a woman with malice even though he claimed he acted after being provoked.
In the Matter of D. Duston Tapley, Jr
The Supreme Court of Georgia rejected a special master's recommendation to remove an elderly Augusta-area attorney from practice for cognitive impairment, finding a psychologist's evaluation created a factual dispute that required a full hearing rather than summary judgment.
Keller v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the felony murder conviction of a Columbus man who beat his ex-wife's two-year-old son to death, rejecting claims of ineffective counsel, trial errors, and judicial bias.
Mills v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a Douglas County man's murder conviction because the trial judge removed a holdout juror during deliberations without enough investigation to justify it.
Moore v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a ruling that a Monroe County man convicted of murder and rape in 1977 had been properly notified of a 2017 order denying him a delayed appeal, even though he claimed he never received it.
Morris v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Darius Morris's murder conviction from a Fulton County home invasion robbery, rejecting claims about a delayed trial transcript, jury selection limits, a jury instruction, and a locked courtroom.
Rickman v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Victoria Rickman's malice murder conviction for shooting William Carter Jr., rejecting claims that her lawyer should have challenged cell phone searches and that prior-incident evidence was wrongly admitted.
Robinson v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed a teenager's murder and armed robbery convictions, finding that any errors in showing demonstrative firearms and body-camera footage to the jury were either proper or harmless given the strength of the evidence against him.
Santana v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County man's convictions for three murders, rejecting his claims that the evidence was too weak, that the judge should have granted a new trial, and that his trial lawyer was ineffective.
Sullivan v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's murder conviction, rejecting his claim that his trial lawyer was constitutionally ineffective for not calling more witnesses or presenting mental health expert testimony.
Turner v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Bibb County man's murder conviction, rejecting his claims that his trial lawyer's mistakes about a handwriting expert, gang references, and sentencing information changed the outcome of his trial.
Valrie v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Gwinnett County man's murder conviction in his infant daughter's death, rejecting his claim that his trial lawyer's decisions about objecting to certain evidence amounted to ineffective assistance.
Williams v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's murder conviction, ruling his trial lawyer was not ineffective for failing to argue the death was accidental during consensual erotic asphyxiation.
In the Matter of Ricardo L. Polk
The Supreme Court of Georgia reinstated Ricardo L. Polk to the practice of law in Georgia after finding he satisfied the conditions the court had previously set for his return.