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Found 65 matching documents.
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 · 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 · 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 · 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.
(a) The Length of the Delay As stated above, we agree with the trial court that the ten-plus- year delay between McCullum’s indictment and trial for C. C.’s rape was presumptively prejudicial. See Goins, 306 Ga. at 57 (2) (b). The trial court found that McCullum had been incarcerated out of state for eight of the ten-plus years that comprised the delay,...
(b) The Reasons for the Delay The trial court found that from 2007 to 2009, McCullum was incarcerated in North Carolina and Kentucky, so his incarceration during that period was not attributable to the pending rape charge in Georgia. From 2009 to 2011, the trial court found, McCullum was incarcerated in Georgia while awaiting trial for C. C.’s rape but, at...
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.
After the verdict was read but before sentencing, Johnson asked to be appointed counsel to represent him at sentencing and on appeal; this request dismissing an untimely statutory demand for a speedy trial filed by his former counsel rather than considering whether his right to a speedy trial guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States...
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.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · April 30, 2024
POWELL v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed the convictions path for two former Glynn County police officials, ruling that their oath-of-office indictment did not actually describe a Brady violation and so could not survive a general demurrer.
In Count 4 of the indictment, Powell was individually charged with “willfully and intentionally” violating the terms of his oath of office under OCGA § 16-10-1 in that he did fail to uphold the Constitution of the United States, which provides in Article VII, Amendment V, that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process, as...
At the hearing on the general demurrers, Powell and Scott argued that the indictment should be dismissed because they could Powell and Scott filed motions to dismiss the indictment, seeking to be discharged and acquitted of all charges because they were not tried during the September 2021 term of court or the next term of court, which began in March 2022...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 31, 2024
Capote v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia dismissed its own grant of review in a Gwinnett County man's appeal, deciding this case was not the right vehicle to settle whether Georgia's 'clearly erroneous' and 'any evidence' standards for reviewing trial court fact-finding in criminal cases are the same thing.
* For a discussion about standards of review to make sense, it is helpful to understand the factual context in which the question about the standards arose. That’s because a standard of review often feels like an academic rubric until it is applied to a particular set of factual or legal findings—and it is often only at that point that a difference in a...
The written notice and request for final disposition referred to in paragraph (a) here shall be given or sent by the prisoner to the warden, commissioner of corrections or other official having custody of him, who shall promptly forward it together with the certificate to the appropriate prosecuting official and court by registered or certified mail or...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 6, 2024
Harper v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Terry Harper's murder convictions from a 2003 Fulton County bar shooting, rejecting his claims about a nearly 19-year appeal delay, a mistrial denial, and ineffective assistance of counsel.
1. Harper first contends that the over-19-year delay between his conviction and his direct appeal violated his right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. We review Harper’s claim that his delayed appeal constituted a due process violation under the four-part balancing test set forth in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S....
Harper’s third appellate counsel was replaced by Harper’s current appellate counsel, who, after obtaining a continuance, filed a third amended motion for new trial on September 29, 2022. The trial court denied Harper’s motion for new trial, as amended, on November 30, 2022, approximately 19 years and three months after 4 At the same hearing, Harper told the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 29, 2024
Sturkey v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Ricardo Sturkey's murder conviction, rejecting claims about a judge's trial questions, polygraph testimony, and ineffective assistance of counsel, while flagging a nearly 13-year delay in the appeal process.
victim of apparently unrelated crimes would have created a reasonable probability of a different outcome at trial. See Graves v. State, 306 Ga. 485, 489 (2) (a) (831 SE2d 747) (2019) (rejecting ineffective assistance claim premised on counsel’s failure to procure an expert witness because appellant failed to show that such testimony “would have rebutted the...
Sturkey’s present counsel ever filed an entry of appearance, so the precise date she became involved in this case is not apparent from the record. However, it is clear that present counsel has represented Sturkey since at least 2016, when Sturkey filed an inquiry with the Bar regarding his inability to communicate with counsel, and Sturkey’s pro se filings...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · December 20, 2024
Edwards-Tuggle v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Gwinnett County man's murder conviction, rejecting claims that the judge's scheduling remarks pressured the jury and that his lawyer's trial strategy amounted to ineffective assistance.
On behalf of the defense, a clinical social worker testified that the appellant shot Grier while suffering from “battered person syndrome.” The appellant also presented several lay witnesses, including his mother, who testified that Grier had repeatedly verbally and physically abused the appellant since 2003, shortly after Grier had married his mother. In...
Folks, as I told you, submitting an important case to both sides at 4:10 on a Friday afternoon before a holiday week is not ideal, but it’s still an important case to both sides. My experience is that jury deliberations take a while. That’s why we have 12 people. They see it differently. So the intent is to get it right, not go fast. Ordinarily, we would...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 4, 2024
State v. Harris
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a superior court wrongly sent a teenager's murder case back to juvenile court, holding that a timely first indictment kept the case in superior court even after a later reindictment added new charges.
In pertinent part, OCGA § 17-7-50.1 provides: (a) Any child who is charged with a crime that is within the jurisdiction of the superior court, as provided in Code Section 15-11-560 or 15-11-561, who is detained shall within 180 days of the date of detention be entitled to have the charge against him or her presented to the grand jury. The superior court...
The Court of Appeals indeed held in Armendariz that an out- of-time reindictment represents “the state’s failure to obtain the timely return of a true bill,” which “requires that the case then be transferred back to juvenile court.” Armendariz, 316 Ga. App. at 396 (1) (citing OCGA § 17-7-50.1 (b)). But that holding is incorrect, is inconsistent with the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 17, 2024
CATOOSA COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY v. HENRY
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia dismissed the Catoosa County Republican Party's appeal over blocked primary candidates, ruling the party waited too long and failed to push for a quick decision before the election already happened.
Although the trial court worked quickly to resolve the parties’ dispute prior to the qualifying deadline, and the CCRP Defendants quickly filed a notice of appeal, any sense of urgency apparently ended at that point. The CCRP Defendants appealed to the wrong court — with a notice of appeal that jumbled the questions of subject matter jurisdiction and...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 29, 2024
SMITH v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a $1 million civil forfeiture case against a metal recycling family must go back for further review because the State's complaint did not properly spell out the crime of theft by taking.
On February 28, 2022, Appellants filed a motion seeking dismissal of the second amended complaint or judgment on the pleadings. As relevant here, Appellants argued that the trial court had failed to timely hold a bench trial or order a continuance, as required by OCGA § 9-16-12 (f), and that the State had failed to allege the essential elements of a crime,...
1 We granted certiorari on September 19, 2023. The case was docketed to this Court’s term beginning in December 2023 and was orally argued on January 9, 2024. intent element of theft by taking could be inferred from the allegations of the second amended complaint, and thus that the second amended complaint satisfied OCGA § 9-16-12 (a)’s requirement that the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · December 10, 2024
Peterson v. Vie
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia dismissed a Douglas County probate judge candidate's appeal challenging her opponent's residency qualifications, ruling she failed to move quickly enough to resolve the dispute before the primary election.
3 We have explained that those prudential considerations include “preventing the unnecessary expense of holding more than one election, assuring the finality of results, and respecting the sanctity of elections wherein the will of the people is the supreme law.” Henry, 319 Ga. at 798 (citation and punctuation omitted). See also Miller, 319 Ga. at 548-549...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · April 30, 2024
Platt v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Rodrigues Platt's murder conviction, ruling that late disclosure of hair test results and a recorded police interview did not require a mistrial or new trial given the strong evidence against him.
(i) A mistrial was not essential to preserve Platt’s right to a fair trial. Platt argues that he was prejudiced by the late disclosure because he had referenced the fact that the first interview was not recorded in his opening statement. But Platt does not show how the late disclosure harmed him. He first argues that he was prejudiced because he referred to...
Platt contends that he was prejudiced by the trial court’s 5 In one part of his brief, Platt notes that the State called five witnesses after lunch (after he listened to the recording), lists four witnesses (“Detective Snider, a GBI crime lab tools examiner, Plair, and Detective Howard”), and then states “the newly-disclosed recording impacted all three.”...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 5, 2024
Starks v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Joseph Starks's felony murder conviction from a fatal high-speed police chase, rejecting his claim that his lawyer should have pursued medical evidence instead of intoxication as an explanation for his unconsciousness.
1. The evidence presented at trial showed the following. On December 14, 2016, a sheriff’s deputy stationed on the side of Interstate 85 observed a 2010 Kia Rio traveling southbound at excessive speed. The deputy activated his radar unit, which indicated a speed of 95 miles per hour in an area with a posted speed limit of 70 miles per hour. The deputy...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 13, 2024
Garrison v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that prosecutors do not have to prove COVID-19 judicial emergency orders extended a deadline to charge a DUI defendant, but sent her case back because the wrong legal test was used to admit breath-test-style field sobriety evidence.
Moreover, the notice requirements associated with statutory tolling exceptions are not required in at least one other context. For example, in OCGA § 17-3-3, the General Assembly has chosen to extend the statute of limitations for a set duration in certain 13 United States Supreme Court precedent provides that although federal due process requires essential...
Unlike with the fact-based statutory tolling exceptions, there is not a meaningful defense to be mounted against the occurrence of a procedural event (i.e., a timely accusation is quashed or nolle prossed). In Sallie, we held that “OCGA § 17-3-3 provides an extension of the statute of limitation[s] period and not an exception to it that must be pled in the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 11, 2024
State v. LOPEZ-CARDONA
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia sent back a Gwinnett County judge's rulings suppressing two murder suspects' police statements, finding the judge's fact-findings were too thin to review whether the men understood and waived their Miranda rights.
(i) With respect to whether Lopez-Cardona and Mendez were adequately apprised of their rights under Miranda, the trial court first recounted Machain’s testimony that the officer who recited the rights in Spanish “was fast[-]speaking and possibly mumbling” when he read the rights, and the court then found that the officer “was very fast[-]speaking” when he...
319 Ga. 222 FINAL COPY S24A0104. THE STATE v. LOPEZ-CARDONA et al.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 29, 2024
Howard v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a defendant whose first-offender status is revoked and who is then formally adjudicated guilty and resentenced can appeal directly, without first asking permission through a discretionary application.
Accordingly, upon the trial court’s entry of an adjudication of guilt, Howard was entitled to a direct appeal under OCGA § 5-6-34 (a). Therefore, we reverse the Court of Appeals’s judgment and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. Judgment reversed and case remanded. All the Justices concur, except LaGrua, J., who dissents.
319 Ga. 114 FINAL COPY S23G1037. HOWARD v. THE STATE.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 20, 2024
Reyes v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a 15-year sentence for a man convicted of killing a driver while drunk, ruling that a trial court may consider a defendant's immigration status and likely deportation in deciding whether to allow probation.
On June 23, 2022, Appellant appealed his sentence to the Court of improperly considered his status as an undocumented immigrant during sentencing, in violation of his rights to due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Appellant further argues that OCGA § 17-10-1.3, which allows a trial court to...
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