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Found 81 matching documents.
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.
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...
(ii) Reasons for the delay: The trial court found that Embert was largely responsible for the delay for the period from February 2015 to August 2018 (three-and-one-half years) because her trial counsel filed multiple motions seeking additional time to file other motions and sought a continuance for personal medical reasons during this period. The trial...
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.
WARREN, Presiding Justice. Appellant Deonte Kitchens was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Alveno Culver. 1 Kitchens filed a motion for new trial claiming, among other 1 Culver was killed on October 29, 2011. In November 2015, a Bibb County grand jury indicted Kitchens and Kelvin Carswell for various crimes...
1. We begin with the legal principles underpinning the analysis of a speedy-trial claim. The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees criminal defendants “the right to a speedy . . . trial,” among other things. A defendant’s claim that the State violated this constitutional right is analyzed under January 2025. Kitchens filed a timely...
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 · December 9, 2025
Lee v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Kevin Lee's murder conviction for killing his wife Ann Berry in 1991, whose remains were not found until 2011, rejecting challenges to the evidence, a hearsay ruling, a juror swap, and his lawyers' performance.
To prevail on these claims, Lee must show both deficient performance and resulting prejudice. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 US 668, 687 (1984). To show deficient performance, Lee “must demonstrate that counsel performed counsel’s duties in an objectively unreasonable way, considering all of the circumstances and in the light of prevailing professional...
“Whether to file a demand for speedy trial is usually a matter of trial tactics and strategy, as a delay in bringing the case to trial may work to a defendant’s advantage.” Jones v. State, 296 Ga. 561, 569 (2015); see also Smith v. State, 297 Ga. 214, 217 (2015), overruled on other grounds by Johnson v. State, 315 Ga. 876 (2023). And “[a]s with other...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 13, 2025
McIver v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Benjamin McIver's murder conviction in a Chatham County killing but reversed his armed robbery conviction because the evidence showed the gun was used only after the victim's debit card was already taken.
After the judgment of conviction was entered and a motion for new trial was filed, new appellate counsel filed both an amended motion for new trial and a motion for funds to obtain forensic expert testimony and a report on the DNA evidence. At the first hearing on McIver’s motion for new trial, trial counsel testified that, although about 50 percent of his...
321 Ga. 565 FINAL COPY S25A0299. MCIVER v. THE STATE.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 4, 2025
Byrd v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a man's malice murder conviction for shooting a man who slapped him at a teen party, rejecting claims about insufficient evidence, an invalid jury waiver, and ineffective counsel.
4. Finally, Appellant claims that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel with respect to his trial counsel’s recommendation that he waive his right to a jury trial. To prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, Appellant must prove both that the attorney’s performance was professionally deficient and that the deficiency resulted in...
The reasonableness of trial counsel’s strategic decision to advise a defendant to waive his right to a jury trial should be “examined from counsel’s perspective at the time of trial and under the particular circumstances of the case.” Taylor v. State, 312 Ga. 1, 15 (860 SE2d 470) (2021) (cleaned up). Here, the record demonstrates that trial counsel’s advice...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · April 8, 2025
Cooper v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County teen's murder conviction, ruling that reindicting him after 180 days did not strip the trial court of jurisdiction because the original indictment was timely.
1. Appellant, who was 16 years old when the crimes occurred, was arrested on December 21, 2018. On April 18, 2019 — 118 days after Appellant’s arrest — a grand jury returned a true bill of indictment charging Appellant with murder. And on February 25, 2020 — 431 days after Appellant’s arrest — a grand jury returned a superseding true bill of indictment that...
In his motion for new trial, Appellant argued both that the trial court had erred in denying his plea in bar and that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to timely file the plea in bar. The superior court rejected both claims. As to Appellant’s challenge to the court’s denial of his plea in bar, the court concluded that, under the plain language of...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 28, 2025
Docs of Ct, LLC v. Biotek Services, LLC
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a company challenging an arbitration award over improper behind-the-scenes emails must show those emails actually changed the outcome, not just that they happened.
time the term was added to our Arbitration Code, from Brady viola- tions, see Taylor v. State, 243 Ga. 222, 222-223 (1) (253 SE2d 191) (1979), and constitutional speedy trial claims, see State v. Madden, 242 Ga. 637, 637 (250 SE2d 484) (1978), to juror-bias claims, see Florence v. State, 243 Ga. 738, 740 (2) (256 SE2d 467) (1979), and claims of ineffective...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 6, 2025
Jones v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Polk County man's murder conviction for killing his brother-in-law, rejecting his claim that his lawyer's five-year delay in seeking a new-trial hearing amounted to ineffective assistance.
Jones argues that counsel performed deficiently by failing to request a hearing on his motion for new trial in the five years between the motion’s filing in February 2015 and the trial court’s denial of the motion in March 2020. The judge who presided over Jones’s trial retired in October 2018, and a successor judge ruled on Jones’s motion for new trial....
3 Jones does not present a claim that the extraordinary delay constituted an abandonment by counsel or that such delay deprived him of any cognizable claim or due process of law. to have the trial judge preside over his motion for new trial hearing and noting that OCGA § 5-5-43 “clearly authorizes a judge who did not try a case to preside over and decide a...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · January 28, 2025
Chambers v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a Savannah man's felony murder convictions from a deadly high-speed chase, ruling prosecutors never proved the pursuing officers wore uniforms with badges prominently displayed as the fleeing statute requires.
turned on their emergency lights and siren and observed Appellant’s SUV, which had its headlights and taillights turned off, turn into an apartment complex. The officers followed Appellant’s SUV, and tried to conduct a traffic stop, but Appellant did not stop. Instead, with Officers Sylvester and Brooner in pursuit, Appellant drove through the apartment...
BOGGS, Chief Justice. Appellant Jerry Chambers was convicted of three counts of felony murder, predicated on fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, following a high-speed chase and crash in downtown Savannah that resulted in the deaths of pedestrian Scott Waldrup and Appellant’s passengers, Spencer Stuckey and Gabriel Magulias.1 Appellant was also...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 16, 2025
Sprayberry v. Morris
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a habeas court's decision that had thrown out Edward Morris's murder conviction, ruling that his trial and appellate lawyers were not constitutionally ineffective on the claims the habeas court considered.
as to the federal claim, granting relief only based on the right under the Georgia Constitution. 4 Our analysis here is limited to the state right; the federal claim remains pending for the habeas court to resolve on remand. See, e.g., Turpin v. Lipham, 270 Ga. 208, 220 (1998) (“Until there is a decision in the habeas court, [the unresolved issues] are not...
Based on this evidence, the jury found Morris guilty on nine charges, and the trial court sentenced Morris to life in prison for the malice murder of Griffin in June 2007, ten years consecutive for the attempted armed robbery of Griffin in May 2007, 20 years concurrent for the aggravated assault of Griffin in May 2007, 20 years consecutive for the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 12, 2025
Reynolds v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Jeremy Reynolds's malice murder conviction for the 2008 shooting death of Barry Bullard, finding eyewitness testimony and other evidence more than enough for a jury to convict him.
2 Reynolds does not contest the sufficiency of the evidence for his conviction for possession of cocaine. 3 We take this opportunity to note that with the 14-year delay between Reynolds’s sentencing and the docketing of his appeal in this Court, this appeal joins “a recent raft of cases with lengthy, unexplained, and unjustified delays between trial and...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 4, 2025
State v. Riley
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a trial judge's decision to grant Brendan Riley a new trial, ruling his lawyer was not ineffective for failing to challenge an ambiguous charging document that mixed indictment and accusation language.
1 That subsection provides that in felony cases involving violations of the enumerated felonies, and The Georgia Code sets out certain requirements for accusations and indictments, including a requirement that the form of these charging documents substantially comply with prescribed statutory requirements. Under OCGA § 17-7-54, an indictment must charge an...
Georgia, charge and accuse (name of the accused) of the county and state aforesaid with the offense of _____; for that the said (name of the accused) (state with sufficient certainty the offense and the time and place of committing the same), contrary to the laws of said state, the good order, peace, and dignity thereof. (b) If there should be more than one...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 18, 2025
State v. Islam
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that when a trial judge grants a motion to return property seized in a search, the property is automatically excluded from trial by law, even if the order never uses the word 'exclude.'
the seized property at issue is excluded by operation of law, and a trial court has no discretion to order otherwise. See Republic Claims Svc. Co. v. Hoyal, 264 Ga. 127, 128 (441 SE2d 755) (1994) (construing OCGA § 9-2-60 (b), which states that “[a]ny action . . . in which no written order is taken for a period of five years shall automatically stand...
321 Ga. 30 FINAL COPY S24G0707. THE STATE v. ISLAM.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 4, 2025
Riley v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Yathomas Riley's murder conviction for killing his wife in front of their infant son, rejecting his self-represented claims about a witness in the courtroom, false evidence, and ineffective counsel.
321 Ga. 112 FINAL COPY S24A1002. RILEY v. THE STATE.
are not reviewable, and, as to his claims concerning evidence presented at trial, Riley either failed to preserve them for appeal or failed to meet his burden of showing error. “[G]rand juries, unlike petit juries, are authorized to consider evidence without regard to its eventual admissibility at trial.” State v. Lampl, 296 Ga. 892, 898 (2) (770 SE2d 629)...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 21, 2025
Smith v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Gwinnett County man's felony murder conviction for a fatal high-speed police chase, ruling that even if letting jurors hear about his suspended license was error, it was harmless given the overwhelming evidence against him.
1. The evidence presented at Smith’s trial showed the following. At around 8:00 p.m. on March 6, 2022, Georgia State Patrol Trooper Demarcus Thomas was conducting traffic- enforcement operations on an interstate in Gwinnett County. Trooper Thomas observed Smith, who was driving a silver sports car, “making improper lane changes” and “traveling well over 80...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 12, 2025
In the Matter of Kathleen Strang
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred attorney Kathleen Strang after she abandoned four indigent clients in criminal cases and failed to respond to the State Bar's investigation, following her default in the disciplinary proceedings.
In SDBD No. 7869, Strang was appointed to represent a client in defending against three felony charges. In January 2020, she entered an appearance on behalf of the client, and in February 2021 — over a year later — filed a waiver of arraignment and entered a not guilty plea. It does not appear from the record that Strang made any further filings in this...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 28, 2025
Short v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Columbus man's murder conviction, ruling that his confession to detectives was not improperly induced by promises of leniency or threats, and so was properly admitted at trial.
321 Ga. 613 FINAL COPY S25A0048. SHORT v. THE STATE.
including Taquawn Pollard and Madison Reese, even rode in the car with Short on this date as he and others attempted to sell Gamble’s car for drug money, committed thefts, and bought and used crack-cocaine. 8 Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436 (86 SCt 1602, 16 LE2d 694) (1966). 9 Short also signed an advice and waiver of rights form during the November 29...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 26, 2025
Foster v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Wayne County man's felony murder conviction for the death of a three-year-old, rejecting his claims that the evidence was insufficient and that the trial judge wrongly denied a last-minute request to delay trial for a new lawyer.
3. Foster also contends that the trial court wrongfully denied his motion for a continuance so that he could have a different lawyer appointed for trial. In a related claim of error, he contends that the trial court violated his constitutional right to be appointed the coun- sel of his choice. We address these contentions in turn. (a) On the first day of...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 18, 2025
Watkins v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Roderick Watkins's murder and feticide convictions in the shooting death of Ashley Clark, but reversed his drug convictions because a lab analyst who never tested the cocaine improperly testified about another analyst's findings.
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