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Found 121 matching documents.
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 · June 21, 2021
Kinslow v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a Norcross IT worker's felony computer trespass conviction, ruling that copying and forwarding his boss's emails to his own account did not legally count as 'interfering' with data under the statute.
If OCGA § 16-9-93 (b) (2) is as broad as the State suggests, “obstructing” and “interrupting” become entirely surplusage and redundant; in such an event, the relevant text would need to list only “interfering.”5 We should presume that the General Assembly 5 Such a construction of OCGA § 16-9-93 (b) (2) also would potentially render superfluous other...
the City’s computer network to copy and forward Cothran’s e-mails with the intention of examining Cothran’s personal data. The other provisions of OCGA § 16-9-93 are broad and provide ample means to deter and punish a wide range of conduct, without expanding the meaning of “interfering” as used in OCGA § 16-9-93 (b) (2). Even ascribing to “interfering” the...
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.
2 OCGA § 16-11-62 (1) prohibits “[a]ny person in a clandestine manner intentionally to overhear, transmit, or record or attempt to overhear, transmit, or record the private conversation of another which shall originate in any private place[.]” Since 2015, before the overhearing at issue in this case, “private place” has been defined for purposes of this...
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 · 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...
1. Wilson contends that the evidence of his alleged prior offenses of child molestation involving P. W. did not satisfy the requirements for admission pursuant to Rule 414. Specifically, he argues that, because he was between the ages of 11 and 13 when the alleged prior offenses occurred, either he lacked the capacity to commit a crime under OCGA § 16-3-1,3...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 21, 2021
STAR RESIDENTIAL, LLC v. HERNANDEZ
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a shooting victim could not sue his apartment complex's owner and operator for treble damages under the state's anti-gang law, because that law only lets victims sue the gang members who actually caused their injuries.
Separate from the nuisance abatement action created by subsections (a) and (b) for certain public officials, the next cause of action created by OCGA § 16-15-7 is defined in subsection (c). That subsection provides that “[a]ny person who is injured by reason of criminal gang activity shall have a cause of action for three times the actual damages sustained...
2. The Court of Appeals also erred in its interpretation of the following language of OCGA § 16-15-7 (c): No judgment shall be awarded unless the finder of fact determines that the action is consistent with the intent of the General Assembly as set forth in Code Section 16-15- 2. (Emphasis supplied). The Court of Appeals reasoned that this language...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · December 14, 2021
Floyd v. Stone
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia refused to let a citizen sue to remove a superior court judge over claims the Governor waited too long to appoint him, ruling that removal is not the right remedy even if the delay violated the constitution.
313 Ga. 16 FINAL COPY S21A1123. FLOYD v. STONE.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 21, 2021
Merritt v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the murder conviction of a Polk County man who shot his wife, finding the evidence sufficient and that any trial errors did not affect the outcome.
5. Prior to trial, the State filed a notice of intent to present testimony pursuant to the residual hearsay exception, see OCGA § 24-8-807,4 through lay witnesses Andrea Lyle, Mercer, and Jeffrey 3 Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436 (86 SCt 1602, 16 LE2d 694) (1966). 4 OCGA § 24-8-807 states in pertinent part: A statement not specifically covered by any law...
Jeffrey, Rita’s sister-in-law, testified that she had a good relationship with Rita, that they spoke on a regular basis, and that Rita shared personal information with her, including information about Rita’s marriage. Jeffrey testified that Rita would call her crying because Merritt called her a “sorry mother” and a “b**ch,” that Rita expressed concerns...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 2, 2021
Ash v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Jabarri Ash's murder conviction in the shooting death of Mario Shaw, rejecting his challenges to evidence rulings, jury instructions, and claims that police improperly destroyed his cell phone.
OCGA § 24-14-8 provides, in relevant part, that “[t]he testimony of a single witness is generally sufficient to establish a fact. However, in . . . felony cases where the only witness is an accomplice, the testimony of a single witness shall not be sufficient.” Under this rule, the Court has stated that where an accomplice testifies at trial, a jury may not...
Here, based on the standard outlined above, there was no evidence presented at trial that obviously called for the giving of an accomplice-corroboration charge. Although Ash notes that both Terrell and Minor believed Shaw should have taken responsibility for Jonathan Ash’s drug charges, Ash has pointed to no evidence that Minor or Terrell shared Ash’s...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · January 11, 2021
Palmer v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Savannah man's murder conviction, rejecting his challenges to the search of his apartment, the exclusion of possible alibi testimony, and his claim that his trial lawyer was ineffective.
But even assuming, without deciding, that the existence of an intentional or reckless falsehood could be established under Franks, the trial court correctly concluded that “the affidavit’s remaining content” was sufficient to establish probable cause independently of any knowledge on Bates’ part that a body had been discovered. Palmer and Whitsett were...
As this Court recently explained, the particularity requirement must be applied with a practical margin of flexibility, depending on the type of property to be seized, and a description of property will be acceptable if it is as specific as the circumstances and nature of activity under investigation permit. (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Rickman v....
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · December 14, 2021
Bates v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Barrow County man's murder conviction for shooting his neighbor and the neighbor's dog, rejecting all four claims that his trial lawyers provided constitutionally inadequate representation.
313 Ga. 57 FINAL COPY S21A1188. BATES v. THE STATE.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · January 11, 2021
Nesby v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County man's murder conviction, ruling that unrecorded bench conferences held outside his presence during trial did not violate his constitutional right to be present.
In the Supreme Court of Georgia Decided: January 11, 2021 S21A0207. NESBY v. THE STATE.
However, a defendant’s presence at bench conferences that deal with questions of law and consist of “essentially legal argument about which the defendant presumably has no knowledge,” or those that deal with logistical and procedural matters, “bears no relation, reasonably substantial, to the fullness of his opportunity to defend against the charge[.]”...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 2, 2021
Stafford v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's felony murder conviction, finding that even though some evidence was wrongly admitted at trial, it did not affect the outcome given the strength of the other evidence against him.
312 Ga. 811 FINAL COPY S21A0767. STAFFORD v. THE STATE.
Appellant and Spencer. After a review of Appellant’s social media accounts, the police determined that Appellant was flying from Denver to Atlanta. Appellant was arrested at the Denver airport on January 13, 2016. Spencer turned himself in at a police station in Washington, D.C. At some point during the investigation, Clark sought to provide the police with...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 5, 2021
Overstreet v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Ben Hill County man's convictions for murder and gang crimes in a lottery winner's shooting death, rejecting claims about weak evidence, prejudicial testimony, and his lawyer's failure to seek a new trial location.
312 Ga. 565 FINAL COPY S21A0712. OVERSTREET v. THE STATE.
Regarding the third element, the evidence presented at trial authorized the jury to determine that Overstreet committed both predicate offenses for the Gang Act violations with which he was charged. From the evidence presented at trial, the jury was authorized to determine that Overstreet committed the offenses of home invasion (as defined in OCGA § 16-7-5)...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 2, 2021
Schoicket v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a woman who pleaded guilty to felony murder cannot use her court-granted out-of-time appeal as a way to also file a late motion to withdraw her guilty plea, though it fixed an error in her sentence on a separate count.
34 See OCGA § 9-14-40 et seq.
As we observed in Collier, for decades we have allowed an alternative method to co-exist for a defendant to obtain an out-of- time appeal from a judgment of conviction, despite the principle that “courts have no authority to create equitable exceptions to jurisdictional requirements imposed by statute.” Collier v. State, 307 Ga. 363, 371 (1) (834 SE2d 769)...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 17, 2021
MOORE v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the murder convictions of Simeon Moore and Walter Milbourne for a Cobb County armed robbery that left one victim shot and dead and another wounded, rejecting challenges to the evidence, jury trial process, and legal representation.
(8) Any special circumstances of the parties, victims, witnesses, or other participants such as the need to protect children or factors involving the safety of participants in the judicial proceeding; and (9) Any other factors which the court may determine to be important under the circumstances of the case. (c) The court may hear from the parties,...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 1, 2021
Allen v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Alfredo Allen's malice murder conviction for stabbing his ex-girlfriend's sister to death, rejecting his claim the jury should have found voluntary manslaughter instead.
Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict, the evidence showed that Allen and Candice began dating in 2012 and had a child together in 2013. They lived together in an apartment in Gwinnett County with their child and Candice’s child from a previous relationship. Candice testified that her relationship with Allen began to deteriorate because...
310 Ga. 743 FINAL COPY S21A0256. ALLEN v. THE STATE.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 23, 2021
SPANN v. DAVIS
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a trial court could not, on its own, dismiss a wrongfully-arrested woman's lawsuit based on quasi-judicial immunity when the court clerks never raised that defense themselves.
Of its seven enumerated defenses, OCGA § 9-11-12 (h) (1) specifies that four — lack of jurisdiction over the person, improper venue, insufficiency of process, and insufficiency of service of process 7 Unlike OCGA § 9-11-8 (c), the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure include a catch-all introductory provision that covers all possible affirmative defenses. See...
defense to a claim to be made in any pleading permitted or ordered under OCGA § 9-11-7 (a) or by motion for judgment on the pleadings, or at the trial on the merits. Here, the Clerks did not assert the defense of quasi-judicial immunity in their responsive pleading or by motion. Although OCGA §§ 9-11-8 and 9-11-12 generally require defenses to be asserted...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · January 11, 2021
Harper v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's murder conviction in the killing of his girlfriend, ruling his police interviews were properly admitted at trial and were not the product of an unlawful custodial interrogation or invalid arrest.
In the Supreme Court of Georgia Decided: January 11, 2021 S20A1288. HARPER v. THE STATE.
2. Appellant contends that the trial court erred in failing to suppress his March 6, 2011 interview, asserting that he was in custody and spoke without a valid waiver of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (86 SCt 1602, 16 LE2d 694) (1966). A person is considered to be in custody and Miranda warnings are required when a person is (1) formally...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · December 14, 2021
RCC WESLEY CHAPEL CROSSING, LLC v. ALLEN
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that private landowners have no common-law right to boot or otherwise immobilize vehicles parked without permission, but sent a class-action lawsuit over such booting back for further review.
(b) Trial court proceedings. In February 2018, Plaintiff filed a lawsuit in the State Court of Clayton County on behalf of himself and a putative class of similarly situated persons against Defendants RCC Wesley Chapel Crossing, LLC, Little Giant Farmers Market Corporation, Dollar Tree Stores, Inc., River City Capital, LLC, and River City Capital Property...
the reason for distraining the cattle, rather than bringing an action at law for the damages, arises from the necessity of the thing itself, as it might otherwise be impossible at a future time to ascertain whose cattle they were that committed the trespass or damage. Id. at 15-16 (punctuation omitted). The court held that the doctrine did not apply to an...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 5, 2021
COLLINS v. THE STATE (Three Cases)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the murder convictions of three men tried together in the shooting death of Milton Carl Kelley, rejecting challenges to jury instructions, denial of a separate trial, and claims that their lawyers performed poorly.
312 Ga. 727 FINAL COPY S21A0627. COLLINS v. THE STATE. S21A0628. BURDINE v. THE STATE. S21A0629. LOVE v. THE STATE.
Let me give you the answer the law allows me to give you. I have read you the charge and I have given you the charge. To the extent there is an answer, it is in the charge. I cannot say, “look here” or “look there,” because then I’m favoring one part of the body of this charge over another. And I didn’t want to read the whole thing out for another 45...
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