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Found 496 matching passages in 367 documents.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 31, 2023
Knox v. State of Georgia
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a lawsuit by five University System professors challenging Georgia's 2017 'campus carry' law was moot, because the Board of Regents itself adopted a policy allowing guns on campus consistent with that law.
5 See Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Par. VIII (“The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, but the General Assembly shall have power to prescribe the manner in which arms may be borne.”); Ga. L. 1994, p. 1012, § 4 (adding public or private technical schools, vocational schools, colleges, universities, and other institutions...
10 In pertinent part, OCGA § 16-11-127.1 (c) (2017) as amended provided: The provisions of this Code section [making it unlawful for any person to carry or possess any weapon while within a school safety zone, at a school function, or on a bus or other transportation furnished by a school] shall not apply to: ... (20) (A) Any weapons carry license holder...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 28, 2025
Stephens v. State of Georgia
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Georgia's law barring most people under 21 from carrying handguns in public, rejecting a 20-year-old's argument that the state constitution's right to bear arms should be reinterpreted using federal legal tests.
1. Background (a) Statutory Framework Georgia law allows law-abiding citizens to carry firearms with few restrictions. Georgians over the age of 21 may carry handguns or long guns in most places, openly or concealed, and with or without a license. See OCGA § 16-11-125.1 (2.1) (any person who is licensed or eligible to get a weapons carry license is a...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 28, 2020
Johnson v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): 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.
5 Prior to the enactment of the Safe Carry Protection Act, and in the absence of any statute specifically providing a justification defense for crimes involving the unlawful possession or carrying of firearms, this Court adopted a “sudden emergency” standard to identify the circumstances in which such possession or carrying would be lawful. See Cauley v....
11-127.2 (a); the unlawful possession of a firearm in restricted access areas of commercial service airports, OCGA § 16-11-130.2 (a); the unlawful possession of a handgun by a person under the age of 18 years, OCGA § 16-11-132 (b); and the unlawful carrying of a handgun by a person with a valid license to carry but without proof of the license in his...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 3, 2026
EAGER HOLDINGS, LLC v. PATEL
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia declined to review a dispute between an LLC and one of its members, but one Justice wrote that the lower court likely erred, and that the case may no longer need a ruling because the disputed money was returned.
Indeed, a legal entity seeking to clarify and settle the rela- tive rights of its members so that it can take certain actions going forward without risking liability or other legal risks strikes me as just the sort of thing that declaratory judgments are meant for. See, e.g., Republican Nat’l Comm. v. Eternal Vigilance Action, Inc., 321 Ga. 771, 791 (2025)...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · December 14, 2021
Bell v. Hargrove
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a probate judge cannot deny a weapons carry license just because a criminal history report leaves the outcome of an old arrest unclear. The judge must have actual proof of a disqualifying conviction, not mere speculation.
COLVIN, Justice. Georgia law generally requires a person to apply for and receive a valid weapons carry license from a probate judge before carrying a handgun or other weapon in public. 1 The General Assembly has identified specific categories of people to whom “[n]o weapons carry license shall be issued,” including people with certain criminal convictions....
1 “No person shall carry a weapon without a valid weapons carry license unless he or she meets one of the exceptions to having such license as provided in subsections (a) through (g) of this Code section.” OCGA § 16-11-126 (h) (1). See also OCGA § 16-11-125.1 (5) (defining “weapon” as including handguns). Under the enumerated exceptions, if certain...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 19, 2023
Roberts v. Cuthpert
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a man who successfully sued for a weapons carry license can pursue recovery of his attorney fees from the probate judge who denied him, because Georgia law waives sovereign immunity for such claims.
2. The General Assembly waived sovereign immunity when it enacted OCGA § 16-11-129 (j). “The doctrine of sovereign immunity, as enshrined in our Constitution, bars suits against the State and its employees in their official capacities unless a statute or the Constitution itself specifically waives that immunity.” State v. SASS Group, 315 Ga. 893, 893 (885...
After receiving the application, a probate judge must direct the appropriate law enforcement agency in the county, to . . . (1) . . . request a fingerprint based criminal history records check from the Georgia Crime Information Center and Federal Bureau of Investigation for purposes of determining the suitability of the applicant and return an appropriate...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 4, 2022
Beamon v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Vernon Beamon's murder convictions for a 2016 DeKalb County double killing, finding the circumstantial evidence tying him to the crimes was strong enough for the jury to convict, and ruled his two firearm convictions did not have to merge.
Any person who shall have on or within arm’s reach of his or her person a firearm . . . during the commission of, or the attempt to commit . . . [a]ny crime against or involving the person of another; . . . [t]he unlawful entry into a building or vehicle; . . . [a] theft from a building or theft of a vehicle; . . . [a]ny crime involving the possession,...
314 Ga. 798 FINAL COPY S22A1037. BEAMON v. THE STATE.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 3, 2026
Trammell v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia said a Floyd County man's Second Amendment challenge to the felon-in-possession gun law could not be decided because he never notified the Attorney General. The ruling means the challenge must be redone after the state gets a chance to defend the statute.
ELLINGTON, Justice. In his sole claim of error, William Trammell, Jr., argues that OCGA § 16-11-131(b), 1 pertaining to the possession of 1 OCGA § 16-11-131(b) provides: Any person who is on probation as a felony first offender pursuant to Article 3 of Chapter 8 of Title 42, who is on probation and was sentenced for a felony under subsection (a) or (c) of...
a firearm, such person shall be imprisoned for a period of five years. 2 The Second Amendment provides that “[a] well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” US Const. Amend. II. 3 The grand jury returned an indictment charging Trammell with possession of...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 12, 2020
Casey v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the sufficiency of the evidence in a Lowndes County murder case but ruled the trial judge never actually performed the independent review required when weighing a new trial motion.
OCGA § 16-5-1 (c) provides that “[a] person commits the offense of murder when, in the commission of a felony, he or she causes the death of another human being irrespective of malice.” OCGA § 16-5- 21 (a) provides, in relevant part, that “[a] person commits the offense of aggravated assault when he or she assaults . . . [w]ith a deadly weapon or with any...
310 Ga. 421 FINAL COPY S20A1105. CASEY v. THE STATE.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 16, 2026
Buchalla v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a man convicted of aggravated assault in 2013 can still be prosecuted for murder after his victim died in 2015, because the murder charge did not exist at the time of his earlier conviction.
Layered on top of these constitutional protections, Georgia law supplies statutory protections against double jeopardy. Some of these overlap with the constitutional protections. For instance, much like the constitutional prohibition against multiple punish- ments for the same offense, a defendant may not be convicted of (and thus punished for) more than...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 11, 2023
Bowman v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Torry Bowman's murder conviction in a Fulton County bar shooting, rejecting his challenges to jury instructions and to how the trial court handled his stipulation about a prior felony conviction.
PINSON, Justice. Appellant Torry Bowman and his friend, Maurice Goodman, got into an argument in a bar with brothers Alec and Britian Price. They confronted the Price brothers again outside the bar, and Alec was shot and died as a result of his injuries. Bowman was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with Alec’s death.1 1 The shooting...
Each claim fails. Although the State did not focus on theories of party to a crime or conspiracy during the trial, at least slight evi- dence supported the theories, so the trial court was authorized to give them. The instruction that provocation by words alone is not a defense to murder was an accurate statement of the law. Bowman’s through 9. The jury...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 12, 2020
Morris v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Clarke County man's felony murder conviction, ruling that the evidence at trial was more than enough for the jury to reject his claim of self-defense.
MELTON, Chief Justice. Following an August 6-10, 2018 jury trial, Tommy Lee Morris was convicted of felony murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with the shooting death of Tony Foster.1 On appeal, Morris contends only that the evidence 1 On May 23, 2017, Morris was indicted by a Clarke County grand jury for malice murder...
3 The State used Morris’s March 1993 plea to an aggravated assault charge involving the use of a firearm to prove his convicted felon status for purposes of Count 5 of the indictment. Morris contends that, because he pled nolo contendere to the 1993 charge and was sentenced to five years of probation as a first offender, the State did not prove that he had...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · April 5, 2021
Byers v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Christopher Byers's murder and aggravated battery convictions in the ax killing of Ray Walnoha, but ruled his felony tampering-with-evidence conviction should have been a misdemeanor and sent that part of the case back for resentencing.
3 Byers does not challenge the State’s standing to seek exclusion of Wesley’s testimony. OCGA § 16-11-67 provides that “[n]o evidence obtained in a manner which violates any of the provisions of this part [which includes OCGA § 16-11-62] shall be admissible in any court of this state except to prove violations of this part.” We previously held that Fourth...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 15, 2025
Moss v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a man's murder conviction in the shooting death of his girlfriend, rejecting claims that jury instructions were flawed, a mistrial should have been granted, and his trial lawyer was ineffective.
(c) Moss also contends that his counsel was ineffective for fail- ing to file a general demurrer to Count 8 of the indictment. Count 8 charged Moss with “the offense of possession of firearm by first of- fender probationer O.C.G.A. § 16-11-131(b),” and alleged that Moss, “on the 2nd day of September, 2018, did knowingly and without law- ful authority...
That uncertainty forecloses Moss’s ineffective-counsel claim. If “existing precedent” at the time did not make clear that a legal ar- gument would have supported a demurrer, then a defendant “cannot show that trial counsel’s failure to file a demurrer asserting that ar- gument amounted to deficient performance.” State v. Riley, 321 Ga. 323, 328 (2025)...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 21, 2021
Wilson v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a stepfather's convictions for molesting his 13-year-old stepdaughter, ruling that evidence he had molested his younger half-sister decades earlier as a child himself was properly admitted at trial.
(c) This Code section shall not be the exclusive means to admit or consider evidence described under this Code section. (d) As used in this Code section, the term “offense of child molestation” means any conduct or attempt or conspiracy to engage in: (1) Conduct that would be a violation of Code Section 16-6-4, 16-6-5, 16-12-100, 16-12-100.2, or...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · April 16, 2024
Stroud v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Richard Stroud Jr.'s felony murder and firearm possession convictions in the shooting death of Frederick Cade, finding the evidence was enough to convict him whether as the shooter or as a participant in the fatal confrontation.
The medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Cade’s body testified that it appeared likely that a single bullet entered and exited his right arm, then re-entered his right torso where it struck a rib, his right lung, and ultimately his heart, resulting in massive hemorrhaging and death. However, the medical examiner did not rule out the possibility...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · April 16, 2024
Milton v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Wilkes County man's murder conviction, ruling that the jury heard enough evidence to find him guilty either as the shooter or as a participant in a fatal beating.
the crimes of which he was convicted.” Kirkland v. State, 318 Ga. 639, 659 (8) (898 SE2d 536) (2024). See also Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319 (III) (B); Fitts v. State, 312 Ga. 134, 141 (3) (859 SE2d 79) (2021). “This limited review leaves to the jury the resolution of conflicts in the evidence, the weight of the evidence, the credibility of witnesses, and...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 16, 2026
Banks v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the murder and burglary convictions of Jonathan Banks, one of three men found guilty in a Fulton County home invasion that ended in the fatal shooting of Pamela Williams.
medical examiner’s expert testimony concerning William’s contact gunshot wound that Banks had deliberately pressed the gun to her head and executed her after he discovered her crouched down, hiding in the closet. Further, based on the evidence presented, the jury could also infer that the burglary crew’s scheme was to verify that a home was empty before...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 11, 2024
Tatum v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that courts applying the independent source doctrine must decide whether police decided to seek a search warrant because of an earlier illegal search, not just whether the warrant application had enough evidence on its own.
1 The incident occurred late at night on July 15, 2018, and Appellant was arrested either on July 15, 2018, or very early in the morning on July 16, 2018. On October 17, 2018, Appellant was indicted by a Madison County grand jury for a “peeping Tom” violation pursuant to OCGA § 16-11-61 (Count 1), invasion of privacy in violation of OCGA § 16-11-62 (Count...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · December 21, 2020
Nuckles v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a hidden camera video from a nursing home patient's room can be used as evidence against a nurse charged in his death, because the patient counted as an occupier of the property and the nurse had no reasonable expectation of privacy while working there.
10 See, e.g., OCGA § 16-1-3 (10) (defining the term “owner” as used in Title 16 as “a person who has a right to possession of property which is superior to that of a person who takes, uses, obtains, or withholds it from him and which the person taking, using, obtaining, or withholding is not privileged to infringe.”). adopted the Security Exception as...
Instead, we interpret the term “occupier of real property” as used in OCGA § 16-11-62 (2) (B) to be broad enough to encompass someone like Dempsey, who had the legal right to occupy, and 11 In support of this argument, Nuckles cites several statutes that employ phrases similar to “owner or occupier of real property.” See also OCGA §§ 2-6- 39 (b) & (c)...
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