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Found 271 matching passages in 134 documents.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 1, 2021
In the Matter of Willie George Davis, Jr
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia rejected a proposed 18-month suspension for an attorney who mishandled his sister's estate and his orphaned nephew's money, finding the punishment too weak given how long it could effectively keep him in limbo.
Finally, while the State Bar had found that Davis’s failure to comply with his nephew’s attorney’s post-judgment discovery requests showed an indifference to making restitution, see ABA Standard 9.22 (j), the Special Master concluded that this did not necessarily justify a finding of this aggravating factor because of the undisputed mental health factors...
Among other things, the Special Master concluded that Davis did not maintain and had not provided any records of how much of his nephew’s funds he spent for the benefit of his nephew, such that the record showed only that the money was unaccounted for, not necessarily that Davis converted it and used it for his own purposes; and that, indeed, the State Bar...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 2, 2021
George v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that police cannot seize items outside a search warrant's scope just because those items are 'relevant,' and instead must meet the stricter plain view doctrine before taking such evidence.
In effect, the Court of Appeals concluded that the State need only show that evidence was “relevant” or “related” to the matter under investigation to justify the seizure of evidence outside the scope of a search warrant. But that conclusion was erroneous, as was the holding in Walsh, because the seizure of such evidence not subject to any other exception...
We therefore conclude that the Court of Appeals’ decision in Walsh is one of a line of that court’s cases that failed to apply the correct plain view standard to evidence seized outside the scope of a warrant. See, e.g., Brown v. State, 260 Ga. App. 627, 629 (1) (580 SE2d 348) (2003); Schwindler v. State, 254 Ga. App. 579, 582 (1) (563 SE2d 154) (2002),...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 21, 2021
Moon v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a Chatham County man's murder convictions because the trial judge improperly removed a holdout juror during deliberations without a sound legal basis for doing so.
To convict Moon of malice murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon during the commission of a crime, the State was not required to prove that Moon personally fired the shots that killed Pickels and Biancosino, only that he was a party to the crimes, which, in this case, meant that he intentionally aided or abetted in the commission of the...
(ii) Motive. To properly show motive, “the extrinsic evidence must be logically relevant and necessary to prove something other than the accused’s propensity to commit the crime charged.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Strong, 309 Ga. at 312 (2) (d) (2). The State argued that the evidence of Moon’s other violent acts was relevant to show that he...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 15, 2021
Moss v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Houston County teen's murder conviction and his sentence of life without parole, rejecting claims of ineffective trial counsel and finding the trial judge properly determined the crimes reflected permanent incorrigibility.
Moss’s crimes reflected irreparable corruption or permanent incorrigibility before entry of Moss’s original LWOP sentence. After Moss’s amended motion for new trial was filed, Moss and the State agreed that Moss was entitled to a new sentencing hearing for the trial court to make such a determination before Moss could be sentenced to LWOP for crimes...
(b) Moss also contends that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to demur to the aggravated battery count of the indictment, as well as the felony murder and firearm counts that were predicated on aggravated battery. Under OCGA § 16-5-24 (a): A person commits the offense of aggravated battery when he or she maliciously causes...
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.
PROSECUTOR: He told law enforcement that he did what he told the victim he was going to do when he said: I done what I told him. Would that be consistent or inconsistent with someone experiencing PTSD symptoms? DR. GAY: I would say that would be inconsistent. And that kind of goes back to premeditation and intent. Assuming without deciding that Dr. Gay...
Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur. Decided January 4, 2022. Murder. Barrow Superior Court. Before Judge Primm. Clark & Towne, Jessica R. Towne, for appellant. J. Bradley Smith, District Attorney, Patricia J. Brooks, Assistant District Attorney; Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K....
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 21, 2021
Taylor v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Micayla Taylor's felony murder and aggravated assault convictions arising from a Newton County shooting, rejecting claims about insufficient evidence, a botched suppression motion, a speedy trial violation, a jury instruction, and ineffective counsel.
A suspect who asks for a lawyer at any time during a custodial interrogation may not be subjected to further questioning by law enforcement until an attorney has been made available or until the suspect reinitiates the conversation. If the police persist in questioning a suspect who has requested that counsel be present, any resulting statements made by the...
3 Officers never recovered the handgun used in the shootings. Appellant at trial. Yates could not identify anyone in the photographs presented to him, but at trial, he identified Appellant as the woman who asked him where she could sell marijuana, had a gun in her possession, and was riding in the silver car. Appellant was arrested on February 5 and...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 23, 2021
State v. Houston
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a habeas court's decision to void a man's three misdemeanor DUI guilty pleas because he was never told at his plea hearing that he had a right to a lawyer there.
PETERSON, Justice. The State is appealing a grant of habeas relief to Aaron Saunders Houston, who pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor DUI counts. The habeas court vacated the convictions entered on those pleas on the basis that the pleas were tendered without the assistance of counsel and without Houston being advised of his right to counsel, and that...
defender in the courtroom on the day that he entered his guilty plea, although the solicitor could not recall which public defender was on duty that day.2 In a one-page order, the habeas court granted Houston’s petition and vacated his convictions, concluding that “the evidence establishes that [Houston] tendered a plea without the assistance of counsel and...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 15, 2021
Lofton v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Hakim Lofton's murder conviction, ruling that circumstantial evidence including phone and cell tower records was sufficient and that police reliance on then-existing law to obtain his cell records without a warrant did not require throwing out the evidence.
“There must be at least slight evidence produced at trial to authorize a jury instruction, and whether the evidence presented is sufficient to authorize a charge is a question of law.” Rammage v. State, 307 Ga. 763, 767 (4) (838 SE2d 249) (2020) (citation and punctuation omitted). See also Barron v. State, 297 Ga. 706, 708 (2) (777 SE2d 435) (2015) (“A...
In this case, we have concluded that the detective’s communications with MetroPCS supported a good faith belief that the company’s voluntary disclosure of the requested records was authorized under the SCA, 18 USC § 2702 (c) (4). We further conclude that it was objectively reasonable for a law enforcement officer in good faith to rely on this statutory...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 24, 2021
SMITH v. LONG COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS AND REGISTRATION
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Long County probate judge election result, ruling that a losing candidate failed to show enough illegal or irregular votes to overcome the nine-vote margin of victory.
. . . shall deny the application by writing the reason for rejection in the proper space on the application and shall promptly notify the applicant in writing of the ground of ineligibility . . . . However, an absentee ballot application shall not be rejected due to an apparent mismatch between the signature of the elector on the application and the...
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 · March 15, 2021
Duke v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that Ryan Duke, the man charged in the 2005 murder of Tara Grinstead, remains indigent even though his lawyers work for free, and that state law lets pro bono lawyers contract with public defender agencies to get state-funded experts and investigators.
In this case, Duke questions the constitutionality of the indigent defense statutes enacted by the General Assembly. Of course, the Georgia Constitution vests “[t]he legislative power of the state” in the General Assembly, Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. III, Sec. I, Par. I, and as we have explained, the lawmaking power of the General Assembly is “plenary.” Bryan...
Moreover, the General Assembly references attorneys representing indigent defendants in various parts of the IDA without limiting the meaning of those “attorneys” to either conflict counsel or capital defenders. See, e.g., with emphases supplied OCGA §§ 17-12-5 (b) (1); 17-12-6 (a) (3) (explaining that the GPDC may help in “[t]he promotion of and assistance...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 8, 2021
In the Matter of Barry Dean Carothers
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a lawyer admitted to the Alabama Bar by transferring his Uniform Bar Exam score from South Carolina was still 'admitted by examination,' letting him seek Georgia Bar admission without taking Georgia's exam.
3. The Alabama Rules. Applicants may be admitted to the Alabama Bar without examination and by examination. As discussed below, under the Alabama Rules, Alabama’s bar examination consists of the UBE, and applicants may take the UBE in Alabama or take the examination in a different jurisdiction and transfer the score they receive. The Georgia Board argues...
(a) Admission to the Alabama Bar Without Examination. Rule III of the Alabama Rules covers “Persons Entitled to Admission Without Examination.” Applicants seeking admission under this rule must show, among other things, that they have been admitted to practice law in another state, territory, or the District of Columbia; that the jurisdiction where they...
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.
1 There is no claim in this case that Star Residential was directly affiliated or involved with a street gang. Nor is there any allegation that Star Residential was involved in the shooting or engaged in criminal gang activity. 15-7 provides for a cause of action for treble damages to persons injured by reason of criminal gang activity if the factfinder...
With these principles in mind, our analysis begins with a consideration of the relevant language contained in OCGA § 16-15- 7 of the Gang Act, which states: (a) Any real property which is erected, established, maintained, owned, leased, or used by any criminal street gang for the purpose of conducting criminal gang activity shall constitute a public...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 5, 2021
Emmons, Warden v. Bryant
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a habeas court order that had granted a new trial to a man convicted of aggravated sexual battery, finding his appellate lawyer did not provide constitutionally inadequate representation.
LAGRUA, Justice. This appeal arises from the grant of a petition for habeas corpus filed by Steven Bryant in connection with his 2015 conviction for aggravated sexual battery. In granting Bryant’s petition, the habeas court ruled that Bryant’s appellate counsel had rendered ineffective assistance by failing to properly assert several instances of trial...
Ordinarily, to show prejudice, a defendant must demonstrate “a reasonable probability[,] sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome[,] that, but for counsel’s alleged unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different.” Miller v. State, 285 Ga. 285, 286 (676 SE2d 173) (2009) (citation and punctuation omitted). As related to...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 1, 2021
Lewis v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Jeffrey Lewis's felony murder conviction, ruling that his recorded jailhouse confession was properly admitted because he was not promised any benefit and never clearly asked for a lawyer.
If a suspect asks for a lawyer during a custodial interrogation, law enforcement officers may not continue questioning the suspect “until an attorney has been made available or until the suspect reinitiates the conversation.” Driver v. State, 307 Ga. 644, 646 (837 SE2d 802) (2020) (citation and punctuation omitted). See also Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S....
LEWIS’S SISTER: So, they ain’t trying to give you help in no type of way? ... DETECTIVE: That’s — it — it — the way I explained to him and what I explained to you is that he has a right to come down and talk to me and provide me with a statement and that he didn’t take that opportunity the first time. So, he reached out to me and this is his second...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 10, 2021
Alston & Bird, LLP v. Hatcher Management Holdings, LLC
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that Georgia's fault-sharing statute lets juries reduce damages based on a nonparty's blame only when a lawsuit names more than one defendant, and it ruled that litigation expense awards for bad faith can also be divided by fault.
Finally, A&B and amici argue that allowing apportionment of damages according to the percentage of fault allocated to nonparties in multiple-defendant cases but not in single-defendant cases would be arbitrary and not reflective of the General Assembly’s intent. But “[t]he best indicator of the General Assembly’s intent is the statutory text it actually...
The General Assembly chose to exclude single-defendant cases from apportionment among non-parties. A&B does not argue that such a choice was beyond the legislative power the Georgia Constitution vests in the General Assembly. And the judicial power we exercise today does not permit us to make a different choice. We affirm the Court of Appeals’s conclusion...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 21, 2021
Montanez v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a man's murder convictions in a fatal Sandy Springs drug deal shooting, rejecting his claims that the evidence was insufficient and that his lawyer botched cross-examination of his accomplice.
(1) Any crime against or involving the person of another; (2) The unlawful entry into a building or vehicle; (3) A theft from a building or theft of a vehicle; (4) Any crime involving the possession, manufacture, delivery, distribution, dispensing, administering, selling, or possession with intent to distribute any controlled substance as provided in Code...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 1, 2021
Holmes v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Dequan Holmes's murder conviction and his life-without-parole sentence for a killing he committed just days before turning 18, rejecting his self-defense claim and his Eighth Amendment challenge.
The 2013 sentencing hearing was held after the United States Supreme Court’s 2012 decision in Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (132 SCt 2455, 183 LE2d 407) (2012). The trial judge did not explicitly mention Holmes’s age or discuss the characteristics of youth during sentencing. In his order denying Holmes’s motion for new trial, however, the judge stated...
311 Ga. 698 FINAL COPY S21A0377. HOLMES v. THE STATE.
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.
At common law[,] infancy is usually regarded as being divided into three distinct periods as to which distinct presumption for capacity or incapacity prevails. An infant under the age of seven (in Georgia changed by statute to ten years) is presumed to have no capacity to commit a crime, and such presumption is conclusive and unrebuttable. After fourteen...
10 Wilson argues that he would have been 12 years old for almost eight months of 1986, when the molestation of P. W. was alleged to have occurred in the State’s notice, and 13 years old for the last four months of 1986. Wilson was 13 years old or older when the prior offenses occurred, this argument fails. To the extent that Wilson was under the age of 13...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 24, 2021
Young v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Rodney Young's murder conviction and death sentence, rejecting his claim that Georgia's requirement to prove intellectual disability beyond a reasonable doubt is unconstitutional.
Since the death penalty for juveniles was outlawed by the 5-4 decision in Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551, 578 (125 SCt 1183, 161 LE2d 1) (2005), the clear trend line of the United States Supreme Court’s cases in this area (all decided by narrow margins) was to restrict the states’ authority to punish juveniles. In particular, the reasoning of the Court’s...
25. Young argues that requiring him to prove his intellectual disability beyond a reasonable doubt in order to be exempted from a death sentence was unconstitutional. Seeing no clear direction in the law to hold otherwise, we adhere to our prior decisions upholding Georgia’s standard of proof.
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