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Found 131 matching documents.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 14, 2020
BARROW v. RAFFENSPERGER (Two Cases)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger properly canceled the 2020 election for Justice Keith Blackwell's seat, because Blackwell's accepted resignation guarantees a vacancy that will erase the term voters would have been electing someone to fill.
(b) Beskin’s case is not moot. At the hearing held by the trial court, the Secretary argued that Beskin’s claims were moot because she had qualified as a candidate in the May 19 election for Justice Bethel’s office and thus had availed herself of an adequate alternative remedy to the mandamus relief that she was requesting. In response, Beskin asserted that...
In Beskin’s case, however, we need not decide whether her qualifying for the election for Justice Bethel’s office constituted an adequate alternative remedy to her qualifying for the election for Justice Blackwell’s office, or whether having qualified for the election for Justice Bethel’s office, OCGA § 21-2-136 would preclude her from withdrawing her...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 19, 2026
In the Matter of Charles M. Dalziel, Jr
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ordered a six-month suspension for attorney Charles M. Dalziel Jr. for disclosing a client's confidential information and filing a frivolous lawsuit against a law firm to try to collect his fees.
(d) Recommended Discipline The Special Master then determined that because the max- imum sanction for a Rule 3.1 violation is a public reprimand, the focus of his disciplinary recommendation was Dalziel’s violation of Rule 1.6(a), and concluded that Dalziel should be suspended for no less than six months. In reaching this conclusion, the Special Master...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 30, 2022
McIver v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed Tex McIver's felony murder conviction in the shooting death of his wife Diane, ruling the trial judge should have let jurors consider a lesser misdemeanor manslaughter charge.
A review of selected cases on involuntary manslaughter provides some guidance for determining whether there is slight evidence of the commission of a lawful act in an unlawful manner to support an instruction on OCGA § 16-5-3 (b). For example, if the uncontradicted evidence shows that the defendant was not in lawful possession of the weapon that caused the...
of recklessness in their analysis of unlawful manner involuntary manslaughter. For example, in Drake v. State, 221 Ga. 347 (144 SE2d 519) (1965), the appellant shot and killed the victim in the woods of north Georgia. The appellant told the investigating officers that he was deer hunting but shot at what he thought was a fox in the mist or fog. While the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · April 6, 2020
Srm Group, Inc. v. Travelers Property Casualty Company of America
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a business sued in court can seek attorney fees for bad-faith litigation even when its counterclaim was one it was legally required to bring, not just when it was optional.
1. Background. The facts, as set forth by the Court of Appeals, are as follows: Travelers Property Casualty Company of America (“Travelers”) filed suit against SRM Group, Inc. (“SRM”), seeking to recover unpaid premiums due under a workers’ compensation insurance policy. In response, SRM asserted counterclaims against Travelers for breach of contract,...
4. With Byers set aside, and given our determination in Division 2, it is clear that SRM was entitled to seek attorney fees under OCGA § 13-6-11, as it asserted independent claims for breach 6 We also disapprove of Maree v. ROMAR Joint Venture, 329 Ga. App. 282, 297 (6) (d) n.18 (763 SE2d 899) (2014); and Murtagh v. Emory Univ., 321 Ga. App. 411, 417 (3)...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 20, 2022
Jones v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed a man's murder conviction for a fatal 2015 shooting in Augusta, ruling that a shotgun shell found in his back yard was properly seized while officers executed a valid arrest warrant.
Nevertheless, the undisputed evidence also demonstrates that, at the time the officers went to execute the arrest warrant, they did not have a search warrant for Appellant’s residence. “The Fourth Amendment [to the United States Constitution] proscribes all unreasonable searches and seizures, and searches conducted without prior judicial approval are per se...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 30, 2022
In the Matter of Daniel Kirkland McCall
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia rejected an attorney's proposed six-month suspension for neglecting three clients, ruling that his mitigating claims, unpaid refund, and proposed reinstatement conditions did not support accepting the deal as offered.
McCall states that while he recognizes the seriousness of this matter and takes full responsibility for his actions and inactions, he believes that a six-month suspension, nunc pro tunc to May 13, 2019, is appropriate here where all of the conduct in the Bar complaints occurred during the time in which he was in the midst of a psychotic episode and was...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 21, 2023
Reese 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 the trial judge should have instructed jurors on self-defense and accomplice testimony and that his trial lawyer was ineffective.
“A jury instruction on the need for accomplice corroboration should be given if there is slight evidence to support the charge.” Stripling v. State, 304 Ga. 131, 136 (816 SE2d 663) (2018) (citation and punctuation omitted). An accomplice is someone who “shared a common criminal intent to commit the crimes in question with the actual perpetrators.” Ash v....
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 11, 2024
Hill v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Newton County man's malice murder conviction for strangling his girlfriend, rejecting his challenges to the evidence, the trial court's handling of mistrial motions and jury selection, and his lawyer's performance.
(b) On appeal, Hill argues that the trial court abused its discretion in denying each motion for mistrial, contending that each piece of testimony discussed above, individually and when viewed collectively, deprived him of a fair trial. “Whether to grant a motion for mistrial is within the trial court’s sound discretion, and the trial court’s exercise of...
9 Although, as noted above, trial counsel did not move to strike six of the jurors about which Hill complains in Division 4, Hill argues only that counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to move to strike five of those jurors; he does not include one of the jurors in this ineffective-assistance claim. so patently unreasonable that no competent...
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 · February 21, 2023
WS CE RESORT OWNER, LLC v. HOLLAND
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that homeowners cannot claim an easement in a nearby golf course just because it was labeled 'golf course' on a subdivision plat and they bought lots referencing that plat.
These features share two related things in common. First, there is simply a well-settled understanding, reflected in more than a century of our decisions, that when these basic features are designated on a subdivision plat, there is ordinarily no reason to doubt that they are included as part of the unified plan for the subdivision and meant for the lot...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 21, 2023
HOSPITAL AUTHORITY OF WAYNE COUNTY v. AMERISOURCEBERGEN DRUG CORPORATION
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that the Hospital Authority of Wayne County cannot challenge the constitutionality of Georgia's opioid settlement law, because the law itself strips the authority of the power to pursue such claims.
Moreover, to the extent that OCGA § 31-7-75 and the preemption provision could be read as conflicting, the canons of statutory construction dictate that the more recent and specific provisions of the Settlement Act govern over the older and more general provisions of OCGA § 31-7-75. See Bellsouth Telecommunications, LLC v. Cobb County, 305 Ga. 144, 151 (1)...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 5, 2020
Premier Health Care Investments, LLC v. Uhs of Anchor, L.P
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a state health agency exceeded its authority when it required a hospital to get a new permit before shifting existing beds into a psychiatric program, because state law does not list bed shuffling as something needing that approval.
23 Indeed, the Department itself now disclaims such a reading of the Psychiatric Rule. See footnote 4, above. the Department under OCGA § 31-6-21 in this context that we should avoid such an interpretation. And although we conclude that the canon of constitutional doubt therefore weighs in favor of interpreting OCGA § 31-6-40 (a) narrowly, we also emphasize...
(b) Relevant regulations. The statutory framework that sets forth the CON program is not the only text relevant to our inquiry. Indeed, “to administer the certificate of need program[,]” the Department is authorized to “adopt, promulgate, and implement rules and regulations sufficient to administer the . . . certificate of need program[,]” to “establish, by...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 6, 2023
MOTORSPORTS OF CONYERS, LLC v. BURBACH
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that before a court can honor a contract's choice of another state's law to decide whether a non-compete clause is enforceable, it must first check whether that clause is reasonable under Georgia's own restrictive-covenants law.
We granted review to clarify the framework for deciding whether to apply contracting parties’ choice of foreign law to govern the enforceability of a restrictive covenant in an employment contract. 2. (a) As a general rule, when parties agree to have foreign law govern their contractual relations, Georgia courts must honor that choice and apply the foreign...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 29, 2020
Raines v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a judge, not a jury, can decide whether a person who committed murder as a teenager is so 'irreparably corrupt' that he can be sentenced to life without parole.
To that end, it is undisputed that in interpreting the Eighth Amendment, the United States Supreme Court has held that a sentence of death cannot be imposed on a juvenile. Roper, 543 U.S. at 578. And although it has not held that a sentence of life without parole is barred categorically for juvenile offenders, it has, through Miller, “rendered life without...
In other words, although the Supreme Court’s Eighth Amendment precedents impose separate constitutional restrictions on the types of punishment that may be imposed on a juvenile, they do not answer whether OCGA § 16-5-1 (e) (1) satisfies the Sixth Amendment. Indeed, they do not speak to what punishment a state statute authorizes for a given offense or...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 24, 2023
STATE OF GEORGIA v. SISTERSONG WOMEN OF COLOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE COLLECTIVE
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that Georgia's six-week abortion ban cannot be struck down as having been unconstitutional when passed just because it conflicted with Roe v. Wade, which the U.S. Supreme Court later overruled in Dobbs.
affirmative duty to declare Georgia laws that violate the United States Constitution or our state Constitution void. See Aycock v. Martin, 37 Ga. 124, 127 (1867) (Because the Georgia Constitution provides that “legislative acts in violation of the Constitution are void, and the judiciary shall so declare them[,]” if the act at issue “is in violation of the...
amending the act. See City of Atlanta v. Gower, 216 Ga. 368, 372 (116 SE2d 738) (1960).29 Under Georgia law, a void legislative act retroactive legislation is that a constitutional amendment can authorize a specific exception such that a legislative act that was unconstitutional when passed can be revived and made effective. See Sherman v. Atlanta...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 15, 2024
Espinosa v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the denial of a man's request to withdraw his guilty plea for stabbing his girlfriend's 15-year-old son to death, rejecting his claim that his lawyer should have advised him of an insanity defense.
At the hearing, plea counsel testified that he had practiced in Georgia since 2007. He had worked both as a public defender and in private practice as a criminal defense attorney and had handled thousands of felony cases. Counsel explained the way he typically handled a murder case, i.e., meeting with the client, requesting discovery, taking discovery to...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · January 28, 2025
WHITE v. CITY OF MABLETON
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the state law that created the City of Mableton, ruling that including community improvement districts in the same bill did not violate Georgia's rule against mixing unrelated subjects in one law.
MCMILLIAN, Justice. In 2022, the Georgia General Assembly enacted House Bill 839 (2022) (“HB 839”), which provides a charter for and incorporates the City of Mableton within unincorporated Cobb County. Deidre White, Ronnie Blue, Judy King, Tanya Leake, and Robert Swarthout are citizens of Cobb County who reside within the limits of Mableton (“Appellants”)....
Thus, the relevant question here is whether HB 839’s CID provision is a “subject matter” that is germane to HB 839’s overall objective of incorporating Mableton or whether it is so “dissimilar and discordant” that the creation of CIDs has no “logical connection with or relation to” the incorporation of Mableton. Wall, 242 Ga. at 570 (3) (citation and...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 4, 2025
Dillard v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the murder and armed robbery convictions of a man who fatally shot a 15-year-old during a staged marijuana deal, rejecting his arguments that the evidence at trial was too weak.
Appellant contends that Idris was his accomplice in a drug transaction, pointing to evidence that Gerena and Idris agreed to sell Appellant marijuana and that Idris accompanied Gerena to the convenience store to complete the sale. But even if Idris (the seller) could be considered to be an accomplice to Appellant (the buyer) in a drug crime — which we doubt...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 17, 2024
Gallegos-Munoz v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia clarified that a 1989 rule requiring judges to first find prior sexual-abuse accusations 'probably false' before letting a jury hear about them no longer applies under the state's 2013 Evidence Code.
(a) Our holdings in Smith. “The main issue on appeal” in Smith was “whether [former] OCGA § 24-2-3, commonly referred to as [Georgia’s] rape-shield law, bar[red] admission of testimony regarding the victim’s alleged past false accusations against persons other than the defendant.” Smith, 259 Ga. at 135-136. We held that the rape-shield statute, which is now...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 6, 2025
Johnson v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Alex Lee Johnson's felony murder conviction, ruling that evidence of his gang membership was properly admitted to show motive and that any error in skipping instructions on lesser offenses was harmless.
The same goes for the armed robbery. That offense has a different element — “use of an offensive weapon” — compared to robbery by intimidation. Compare OCGA § 16-8-41 (a), with OCGA § 16-8-40 (a) (2). The “‘use of an offensive weapon’ takes place when the weapon is used to commit a violent injury to the person of the victim or to place the victim in...
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