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Found 45 matching documents.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 21, 2023
Bowman v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a Paulding County man's 2014 trial never happened in the eyes of the law because the 12 citizens who heard his case were never sworn in as a jury, so he is entitled to be discharged and acquitted under Georgia's speedy trial statute.
On November 27, 2019, through new counsel, Bowman filed a motion for discharge and acquittal on statutory and constitutional speedy trial grounds. On the same day, the State filed a motion seeking a declaratory order that the December 2014 proceeding “constitute[d] a trial” for the purpose of satisfying Bowman’s Demand for Speedy Trial pursuant to OCGA §...
We granted Bowman’s petition for certiorari and posed the following question: Was [Bowman] deprived of his statutory or constitutional right to a speedy trial where the trial he received was held before a jury that had not sworn the oath required by OCGA § 15-12-139? The case was orally argued in this Court on September 20, 2022. 2. The dispute in this case...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 20, 2022
Williams v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Richmond County man's murder conviction, rejecting his self-defense claim, his argument about an accomplice's guilty plea, and his claim that a 25-month delay before his retrial violated his right to a speedy trial.
4. Finally, Williams argues that his constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated when he was not brought to retrial for 25 months after remittitur of his case to the superior court following the reversal of his convictions by this Court. The trial court determined that Williams’s constitutional speedy-trial right was not violated and denied both a...
Courts examining an alleged denial of the constitutional right to a speedy trial first must consider whether the interval between the defendant’s arrest, indictment, or other formal accusation and the trial is sufficiently long so as to be characterized as presumptively prejudicial. If the delay is long enough to invoke the presumption of prejudice, the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 5, 2024
Palmer v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Willie Williams Palmer's murder convictions from his fourth trial, rejecting his claims that his speedy trial rights were violated and that the trial court wrongly excluded evidence pointing to other possible suspects.
2. Appellant contends that the trial court erred in rejecting his claim that the State violated his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. We disagree. The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy . . . trial.” Sixth Amendment speedy trial claims are...
Application of the Barker-Doggett balancing test to particular cases is committed to the sound discretion of the trial courts. See Heard v. State, 295 Ga. 559, 563 (761 SE2d 314) (2014). Thus, on appeal from a ruling on a speedy trial claim, we accept the trial court’s factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous, and we review the trial court’s...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 19, 2020
Henderson v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed a Gwinnett County man's murder conviction, rejecting his claims that his speedy trial rights were violated and that his lawyer's mistakes entitled him to a new trial. The court also overruled a prior precedent that assumed such lawyer mistakes always cause harm.
Henderson contends that his constitutional right to a speedy trial was denied. We disagree. The United States Constitution guarantees that, “[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy 3 We remind litigants that the Court will end its practice of considering sufficiency sua sponte in non-death penalty cases with cases...
As we have explained, [i]f the delay is long enough to invoke the presumption of prejudice, the trial court must balance four factors: (1) whether the delay before trial was uncommonly long, (2) whether the government or the criminal defendant is more to blame for the delay, (3) whether, in due course, the defendant asserted his right to a speedy trial, and...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · December 20, 2022
Davis v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's murder conviction, rejecting his claims that his speedy trial rights were violated, that evidence about the victim's friend was wrongly excluded, and that his lawyer was ineffective.
2. Davis first contends that he was denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial. In reviewing the trial court’s ruling on this issue, we accept the trial court’s factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous, and we will affirm its ultimate conclusion absent an abuse of discretion. See Burney v. State, 309 Ga. 273, 286 (4) (845 SE2d 625) (2020)....
2 Although this filing may have been intended as a statutory speedy-trial demand, it did not comply with the speedy-trial statute. See OCGA § 17-7-171. That Code section provides that, absent “special permission of the court,” any speedy-trial demand must be filed “at the term of court at which the indictment is found or at the next succeeding regular term...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 7, 2023
Rucker v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a man's murder conviction for a fatal home invasion in Southwest Atlanta, rejecting his arguments about a missing jury instruction and a delayed trial.
(c) Assertion of the right. The trial court weighed Rucker’s delay in asserting his right to a speedy trial heavily against him. Rucker argues that the trial court erred in this regard because, although he did not assert his right to a speedy trial until he filed his motion to dismiss the indictment on April 13, 2017, he was not served with initial...
We cannot say that the trial court erred in reaching this determination. Because delay often works to a defendant’s advantage, “the accused bears some responsibility to invoke the speedy trial right and put the government on notice that he . . . would prefer to be tried as soon as possible.” Ruffin, 284 Ga. at 62 (2) (b) (iii). And, “[o]ur cases hold that...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 6, 2024
Redding v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): For the third time, the Supreme Court of Georgia sent Merrick Redding's murder case back to a Muscogee County trial court, ruling that the judge again misapplied the legal test for deciding whether Redding's speedy-trial rights were violated.
(c) The assertion of the right to a speedy trial. The trial court weighed the assertion-of-right factor neutrally and did not abuse its discretion in doing so. We have explained that this factor asks whether the defendant asserted the right to a speedy trial in due course. This factor focuses on the timing, form, and vigor of the accused’s demands to be...
Although the trial court again made an erroneous factual finding that Redding requested trial delays, the trial court correctly laid out the other facts and reasons behind the one-year delay in filing the speedy-trial motion and based its analysis in large part on those findings. It is undisputed that Redding first raised the speedy- trial issue one year...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 21, 2023
Leonard v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Joshua Leonard's murder conviction for a 2010 Columbus shooting, ruling that the victim's statements identifying his shooters, made after he woke from a coma and again on the day he died, were properly admitted as dying declarations.
“When an accused claims that a delay in bringing him to trial has worked a denial of his constitutional right to a speedy trial, a court first must consider whether the delay is long enough to raise a presumption of prejudice and to warrant a more searching judicial inquiry into the delay.” State v. Johnson, 291 Ga. 863, 864 (1) (734 SE2d 12) (2012). Here,...
(c) Assertion of the right The trial court weighed the third factor heavily against Leonard, finding that Leonard waited more than nineteen months before asserting his right to a speedy trial despite being represented by counsel within one month of his arrest. The record supports that finding, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion by weighing...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 10, 2025
State v. Embert
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a Dougherty County woman's 2019 murder trial was not automatically void just because one juror turned out to be an ineligible felon, undoing the trial court's decision to dismiss her case on speedy trial grounds.
state or before the federal government?” The record contains no indication that either the Juror or any other prospective juror raised a hand in response, and the trial judge determined that the panel was “legally qualified.” (a) Order on Motion for New Trial: Following the motion hearing, the trial court granted Embert’s amended motion for new trial on...
In its dismissal order, the trial court first determined that the service of an ineligible juror not only rendered her sentence void, entitling her to a new trial, but also rendered the December 2019 trial void, finding that “there was no jury trial in this case that satisfied Embert’s constitutional right to a speedy trial.” Therefore, the trial court...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 29, 2020
Burney v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): 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.
Moreover, Burney merely speculates as to how the medical records would have aided him, and he offers no evidence that anything contained in the medical records might have differed from the testimony about those records or Kitchens’ medical history that was presented at trial. As we have recently discussed, [t]he mere possibility that an item of undisclosed...
On appeal, Burney argues that the delays in the case prejudiced him because his lengthy incarceration caused him to suffer from heightened anxiety and because the State used the period between his arrest in October 2008 and September 2011 to build a case against him by interviewing his cellmates and executing a plan to elicit incriminating statements from...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · July 1, 2025
Kitchens v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia sent a Bibb County man's murder case back to the trial court after finding the judge miscalculated key facts and misapplied the law in rejecting his claim that the state violated his right to a speedy trial.
(c) Assertion of the Right In considering the assertion-of-the-right factor, a trial court must evaluate whether the defendant “‘has asserted the right to a speedy trial in due course,’” which requires “‘a close examination of the procedural history of the case with particular attention to the timing, form, and vigor of the accused’s demands to be tried...
The court correctly determined that Kitchens’s private letters to his lawyer failed to put the trial court or the State on notice of an assertion of his right to a speedy trial and that, consequently, those “[p]rivileged, off-the-record conversations” did not serve as a sufficient invocation of the right. Henderson, 310 Ga. at 237. But the trial court’s...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 13, 2024
Johnson v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Chatham County man's murder convictions, ruling that a state law speedy trial deadline does not override or block a separate claim under the federal Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial.
2 Johnson does not challenge the trial court’s conclusion that the statu- tory demand was untimely. conflicts with the Sixth Amendment’s right to a speedy trial, and so the trial court should have considered whether his Sixth Amend- ment speedy trial right was violated instead of dismissing his stat- utory demand.
Johnson’s claim fails. The demand statute is “in aid and imple- mentation of the State constitutional right to a speedy trial.” State v. Varner, 277 Ga. 433, 434 (589 SE2d 111) (2003) (cleaned up) (em- phasis added). That statute “provides no assistance in relation to the federal constitutional right to a speedy trial.” Henry v. State, 263 Ga. 417, 418 (434...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 1, 2024
Redding v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Merrick Redding's felony murder conviction for a fourth and final time, ruling his speedy-trial rights were not violated and that any evidence errors at trial were harmless.
LAGRUA, Justice. Following a 2018 jury trial, Appellant Merrick Redding was found guilty of felony murder and aggravated assault in connection with the death of Joseph Davis. This is Redding’s fourth appeal to this Court. In his first three appeals, we vacated the trial court’s judgment and remanded for the trial court to apply the correct facts and legal...
Redding for malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault with a “closed fist.” He was reindicted on the same charges on May 22, 2018. At a trial from October 24 to November 5, 2018, the jury found Redding not guilty of malice murder but guilty of the remaining counts. The trial court orally denied the speedy-trial motion at the pretrial conference...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 3, 2026
Jenkins v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): 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.
In Hubbard v. State, 254 Ga. 694 (1985), we held that when a defendant files a speedy trial demand under OCGA § 17-7-170, which governs speedy trial demands in noncapital cases, and later moves to dismiss the indictment against him under that statute, he may appeal directly from the denial of such motion without following the interlocutory appellate...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 19, 2020
Goins v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Gwinnett County man's murder conviction for the second time, rejecting his renewed speedy trial claim and finding no reversible error in the trial court's handling of evidence and a mistrial request.
2. Appellant contends that his constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated. That claim, which Appellant raised in a pretrial motion to dismiss his indictment and again in his amended motion for new trial, requires the trial court to make findings of fact and conclusions of law under the two-part framework set forth in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 5, 2024
McCullum v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Samuel Earl McCullum's convictions for the 1998 rape and murder of Monica Blackwell and the 1999 rape of another woman, rejecting his arguments that the evidence was insufficient and that pretrial delay and joinder violated his rights.
4. The Speedy Trial Motion McCullum contends that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion to dismiss Count 5 (rape of C. C.) on constitu- tional speedy trial grounds.10 McCullum was initially indicted for C. C.’s rape in 2007. In 2011, he filed a motion to dismiss the indictment for violations of his right to a speedy trial under the...
If a court concludes the delay is presumptively prejudicial, as the trial court correctly did here, it must then apply a balancing test that considers the length and reasons for the delay, the defendant’s assertion of his speedy-trial right, and the prejudice to the defend- ant. See Johnson v. State, 300 Ga. 252, 257 (3) (794 SE2d 60) (2016). These factors...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 6, 2025
Nelson v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia vacated a ruling that denied a Fulton County murder defendant's motion to dismiss his indictment on speedy trial grounds, finding the trial court made factual errors and misapplied the law in weighing the delay.
On July 10, 2023, Appellant filed a motion for permission to file an out-of-time statutory demand for speedy trial under OCGA § 17- 7-171 (a). In the motion, Appellant also said that he was making a demand for a speedy trial “[p]ursuant to the Georgia Constitution.” The trial court held a hearing on the motion on August 31, 2023. During the hearing, the...
On October 24, 2023, three years and four months after Appellant’s arrest, Appellant moved to dismiss his indictment on constitutional speedy-trial grounds, invoking his right to a speedy trial under both the United States Constitution and the Georgia Constitution. The court scheduled a virtual hearing on the motion to dismiss for June 18, 2024, but...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 17, 2022
Redding v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia sent a Muscogee County murder case back to the trial court a second time, ruling that the judge misapplied the law and failed to properly weigh the factors used to decide speedy-trial claims.
1. As we explained in Redding I, [t]he record shows that [Appellant] was arrested on September 12, 2016, one week after the [murder]. [Appellant] was granted a bond on March 2, 2017, but he 1 See Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 530 (92 SCt 2182, 33 LE2d 101) (1972). See also Doggett v. United States, 505 U.S. 647, 652 (112 SCt 2686, 120 LE2d 520) (1992). 2...
apparently was unable to post the bond amount and so remained in jail. On September 28, 2017, [Appellant] filed a “Motion to Dismiss Charge Based on Violation of Constitutional Right to Speedy Trial.” At that point, [Appellant] had not yet been indicted, and he noted in his motion that he had repeatedly asked for his case to be presented to a grand jury and...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 16, 2026
Price v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia vacated part of the ruling against a Fulton County man convicted of murder, finding the trial judge made legal errors in rejecting his claim that he was denied a speedy trial, and sent the case back for a proper analysis.
2 OCGA § 17-7-171(a) provides: Any person accused of a capital offense may enter a demand for speedy trial at the term of court at which the indictment is found or at the next succeeding regular term thereafter; or, by special permission of the court, the defendant may at any sub- sequent term thereafter demand a speedy trial. The demand for speedy trial...
If the trial court significantly misapplies the law or clearly errs in a material factual finding, we will af- firm the trial court’s exercise of discretion only if we can conclude that, had the trial court used the cor- rect facts and legal analysis, it would have had no discretion to reach a different judgment. But if the trial court would still have...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 16, 2020
Redding v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): 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.
3. Redding contends that the trial court erred when it failed to dismiss the indictment on the ground that his constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated. The record shows that Redding was arrested on September 12, 2016, one week after the incident. Redding was granted a bond on March 2, 2017, but he apparently was unable to post the bond amount...
I overrule the motion on [the speedy trial] because of the violation of probation. The toxicology reports and other documents, police reports they had to accumulate in order to take the case to the grand jury for the charge of murder . . . . The trial court did not enter a written order. A constitutional speedy trial claim is evaluated under a two- part...
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