Georgia CommonsCourt opinions
Georgia Supreme Court decisions with plain-language summaries. Browse by year and case type, or search by case name.
HILL, KERTSCHER & WHARTON LLP v. MOODY
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that when a client sues a former lawyer for malpractice, the lawsuit also opens up the client's privileged communications with any other attorney who worked on the same underlying matter.
Hogan v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a man's felony murder conviction and its trial judge's decision to reseat three jurors the defense had struck, but ordered one assault conviction merged into another.
Hyden v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Franklin County man's murder and kidnapping convictions in a beating death, rejecting claims of insufficient evidence, trial error, a 15-year appeal delay, and ineffective counsel.
In the Matter of Julianne Wesley Holliday
The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred Julianne Wesley Holliday after she failed to respond to three separate State Bar disciplinary cases accusing her of abandoning clients, missing critical deadlines, and keeping fees she did not earn.
Johnson v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a felony probationer charged with murder may still argue self-defense if his possession of the gun he used was itself justified under Georgia's Safe Carry Protection Act, sending his case back to the trial court.
Kilpatrick v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Douglas County man's malice murder conviction for a 1998 highway shooting, rejecting his self-defense claim and multiple challenges to evidence used against him, including recorded jail-era wiretaps.
McELRATH v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a jury's verdicts finding a man both not guilty by reason of insanity of murdering his mother and guilty but mentally ill of felony murder for the same stabbing were legally contradictory, so both verdicts must be thrown out and he must be retried.
Parham v. Stewart
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the results of Blythe's 2018 mayoral election, ruling that two illegal votes were not enough to change or cast doubt on the four-vote margin of victory.
Sawyer v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County man's felony murder conviction for killing his girlfriend's two-year-old son, rejecting his claim that his trial lawyer was ineffective for not objecting to several pieces of testimony.
Smith v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Omari Smith's felony murder conviction for a Fulton County shooting, rejecting his claims that the evidence was too weak, that he should have had a separate trial, and that his lawyers failed him.
State v. Hamilton
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a trial court's decision to grant Marlina Hamilton immunity from prosecution in the killing of her ex-husband, finding she showed by a preponderance of the evidence that she acted in self-defense.
Tolbert v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Columbus man's murder conviction, ruling his post-arrest confession was voluntary and that evidence of other robberies he committed was properly shown to the jury.
Westbrook v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County man's murder conviction, rejecting challenges to his warrantless arrest, a phone lineup identification, and a recorded jail phone call used against him at trial.
Wilkins v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Savannah man's convictions for the murders of his former boss and coworker, ruling that testimony about his silence when an accomplice implicated him was properly admitted and that his trial lawyer's failures did not change the trial's outcome.
CITY OF ATLANTA v. ATLANTA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL SYSTEM
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that Atlanta Public Schools' lawsuit over a small City of Atlanta annexation was not a real legal dispute the courts could decide, because the annexed property had no effect on the school system.
COEN v. APTEAN, INC.
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that punitive damages can generally be recovered in Georgia's statutory abusive litigation claims, rejecting decades of Court of Appeals decisions that said otherwise.
DELOACH v. THE STATE (And Vice Versa)
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Arheem DeLoach's murder conviction for killing Jamell Law but reversed a trial court order that had granted him a new trial on a separate murder charge for killing Rashad Biggins.
Gittens v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the murder conviction of a Telfair State Prison inmate who stabbed a fellow inmate during a fight over a cell phone, rejecting claims of insufficient evidence, ineffective counsel, and newly discovered alibi witnesses.
Howell v. State
The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Dalton man's murder conviction for beating a homeless man to death, but corrected a sentencing error by vacating separate assault and battery convictions that should have merged into the murder count.
In the Matter of Melvin T. Johnson
The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred attorney Melvin T. Johnson after finding he repeatedly neglected clients, mishandled client funds, forged documents, and ignored the State Bar's disciplinary process across five separate cases.