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Found 285 matching passages in 133 documents.
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 · 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 · 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.
ELLINGTON, Justice, dissenting. 1. The trial court correctly granted in part the plaintiffs’ motion for judgment on the pleadings on the basis that Section 4 and Section 11 of the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act, Ga. L. 2019, p. 711, Act No. 234 (HB 481) (“the 2019 Act”) were void on the date enacted and can never be enforced, despite the...
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...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 21, 2023
HENDERSON v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the murder convictions of Demetre Mason and Frankland Henderson, rejecting challenges to trial evidence, a co-defendant's statement, and the decision to try them together.
But it is not quite so simple. This limiting-instruction fix puts a great deal of faith in the jury’s ability to consider the co-defend- ant’s statement against the co-defendant, but to ignore it entirely when considering the guilt or innocence of the defendant. To be sure, jurors are instructed all the time in our legal system to compart- mentalize in this...
Brown instructed everyone to delete any pictures they had with Williams on Instagram. Harrell and Shardow rifled through Wil- liams’s purse and then burned it. The following day, Harrell and Singleton threw away some of Williams’s other belongings at an el- ementary school down the street. (b) At 4:14 a.m. on May 19, 2014, Alyssia Smith, who lived near the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · April 18, 2023
In the Matter of Jason Lee Van Dyke
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia imposed a three-year suspension on Texas lawyer Jason Lee Van Dyke for pleading no contest to filing a false police report, backdated so he is effectively reinstated immediately.
The Special Master concluded that although the Court has imposed disbarment in cases where a lawyer engages in criminal conduct involving fraud, deceit, or false swearing, see In the Matter of Skandalakis, 279 Ga. 865 (621 SE2d 750) (2005), disbarment is not mandatory in cases involving dishonesty and moral turpitude when mitigating factors warrant a lesser...
3. Analysis Having reviewed the record, we conclude that the Special Master’s recommendation of a three-year suspension is an appropriate penalty in this case. We note, however, that although the Special Master declined to impose reciprocal discipline for the Second Texas Incident and concluded that reciprocal discipline “based upon the remaining...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · December 19, 2023
CLEMENTS v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the murder convictions of London Clements and Eric Velazquez, both connected to the shooting death of a Hall County deputy during a chain of burglaries and a police chase in July 2019.
With respect to Lee’s testimony regarding the statements Garcia-Solis made to her in the hospital about the defendants’ plan to leave one person “to shoot the cop” while the others ran away, because Garcia-Solis was also on trial, these statements were the “admissions of a party opponent” and were not excluded by the hearsay rule. Lyons, 309 Ga. at 28 (8)...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 21, 2023
In the Matter of Willie George Davis, Jr
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ordered attorney Willie George Davis Jr. disbarred after finding he mishandled his sister's estate and his orphaned nephew's trust funds and repeatedly defied probate court orders.
(c) Recommendation of Discipline. The Special Master concluded that disbarment remained the presumptive penalty because, sympathy aside, the mitigating factors were not sufficient to offset the aggravating factors. After a review of Davis II and other cases “involving violations of trust accounting rules and [GRPC] Rule 8.4,” the Special Master recommended...
3. Review Board’s Report and Recommendation. The Review Board concluded that the Special Master’s factual findings were supported by the record and were not clearly erroneous or manifestly in error and adopted them. The Review Board further concluded that the Special Master’s conclusions of law were correct and adopted them. The Review Board also affirmed...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 15, 2023
TAYLOR, EXR. v. THE DEVEREUX FOUNDATION, INC. (And Vice Versa)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Georgia's $250,000 cap on punitive damages in a sexual assault case against a Georgia treatment facility, ruling the cap does not violate the right to a jury trial, separation of powers, or equal protection.
(a) Taylor offers evidence that juries were the arbiters of the large damages awarded in pre-1776 English cases. In all six of the pre-1776 English cases Taylor relies on, the jury decided the damages award—which suggests that the question of damages was a jury question, and one in which English courts were hesitant to meddle. See Beardmore, 95 Eng. Rep. at...
VIII. Sufficiency of the Evidence Supporting the Trial Court’s Determination of the Amount of Attorney Fees Devereux next argues that Taylor did not present sufficient evidence of the amount of attorney fees to which Taylor was entitled. As noted above in Division I, after the jury found that Taylor was entitled to attorney fees, the parties agreed that the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 16, 2023
In the Matter of Andrew Matteson
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted attorney Andrew Matteson's renewed petition for a six-month suspension, made retroactive to April 2019, after he provided proof of mental health treatment and that he repaid clients harmed by his misconduct.
Matteson provided with his sworn affidavit, in which he states that from April 2019 through October 2019 he did not work at all, his 2019 income tax returns as evidence that he was not fully employed in 2019. Based on these claims, Matteson now requests as discipline a six-month suspension from the practice of law and that this suspension be imposed nunc...
2 Rule 1.4 (a) provides that a lawyer shall promptly inform the client of any decision or circumstance with respect to which the client’s informed consent is required; shall consult with the client about the means by which his objectives are to be accomplished; shall keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the matter; shall promptly comply...
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.
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...
(v) Not apply to faculty, staff, or administrative offices or rooms where disciplinary proceedings are conducted; (vi) Only apply to the carrying of handguns which a licensee is licensed to carry pursuant to subsection (e) of Code Section 16-11-126 and pursuant to Code Section 16-11-129; and (vii) Only apply to the carrying of handguns which are concealed....
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 19, 2023
Hamilton v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Nuwrulhaqq Hamilton's felony murder conviction, ruling that surveillance footage and testimony showed he was more than a bystander and that missing a good-character jury instruction did not affect the trial's outcome.
At trial, after the State finished presenting its case, the defendants moved for directed verdicts of acquittal on all counts. As to Hamilton, the trial court ultimately granted the motion as to the malice murder count but denied the motion as to the other counts. The court stated that its decision was based “largely” on Brown v. State, 250 Ga. 862 (302...
317 Ga. 337 FINAL COPY S23A0670. HAMILTON v. THE STATE.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 31, 2023
RAFFENSPERGER v. JACKSON (And Vice Versa)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia struck down Georgia's Lactation Consultant Practice Act, ruling that limiting paid lactation care work to those with a private IBCLC certification violates the state constitution's due process protections for pursuing a lawful occupation.
research and evidence-based curriculum in a free 16-hour course. Approximately 1,000 individuals have participated in ROSE’s training course. In 2013, the General Assembly first considered a bill that would require lactation care providers to be licensed through the Secretary. See House Bill 363 (2013). Pursuant to OCGA § 43-1A-5 (a) (1), the Georgia...
(A) Lactation assessment through the systematic collection of subjective and objective data; (B) Analysis of data and creation of a lactation care plan; (C) Implementation of a lactation care plan with demonstration and instruction to parents and 6 By specifying that the named services “shall include, but not be limited to,” the list is not exhaustive....
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 7, 2023
SILLAH v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia largely upheld the murder convictions of Darnell Sillah and Andrew Murray for killing a Gwinnett County teenager, but ruled that two of Sillah's conspiracy convictions should have merged into the completed crimes.
After Sillah’s sentencing, the United States Supreme Court held in Montgomery v. Louisiana, 577 U.S. 190 (136 SCt 718, 193 LE2d 599) (2016), that Miller was a substantive rule of constitutional law that must be given retroactive effect in state collateral review proceedings. See id. at 212. In concluding that Miller must be applied retroactively, the Court...
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.
Having taken a fresh look, we conclude that Georgia law remains the touchstone for determining whether a given restrictive covenant is enforceable in our courts, even where the contract says another state’s law applies. Our decisional law has long distinguished between restrictive covenants that are reasonable (in scope, duration, and geographic reach) and...
Soon after its enactment, OCGA § 13-8-2.1 was declared unconstitutional because its provision allowing for the “partial enforcement” of unreasonable restrictive covenants (i.e., blue- penciling) would have “breathe[d] life into” contracts that “[had] the effect of defeating or lessening competition,” in violation of Art. III, Sec. VI, Par. V (c) of the 1983...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 21, 2023
Johnson v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County father's felony murder conviction in the death of his six-month-old daughter, rejecting challenges to the evidence, autopsy photos, cross-examination limits, and a missing jury instruction on accident.
5. Johnson next contends that the trial court “erred and violated the Sixth Amendment right of confrontation” by limiting the defense’s cross-examination of Cole on certain topics. Both the United States and Georgia Constitutions guarantee to an accused the right to confront and cross-examine the witnesses against him. See U. S. Const. Amend. VI; Ga. Const....
316 Ga. 672 FINAL COPY S23A0338. JOHNSON v. THE STATE.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 2, 2023
Regan v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia struck down as applied a felony child molestation sentence, ruling that a 17-year-old defendant should have qualified for a misdemeanor sentence like those convicted of aggravated child molestation against a same-age victim.
received a more severe sentence than members of the comparison class for a less culpable offense. Dissent, p. 632 (c) (“[N]othing in the Equal Protection Clause . . . allow[s] courts to supersede legislative judgment about which crimes should result in harsher penalties.”). While it would be inappropriate to cast our gaze across the Criminal Code to ensure...
Nor can we see any other rational basis for prescribing misdemeanor sentences for the aggravated child molestation of 13- year-old victims, while also prescribing felony sentences for simple child molestation of 13-year-old victims. As explained above, permitting persons convicted of aggravated child molestation to receive misdemeanor sentences while...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 11, 2023
MCBRAYER v. SCARBROUGH
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that placing and restraining a man in a patrol car's back seat counts as 'use' of the vehicle, so a wrongful death suit against a sheriff can proceed despite sovereign immunity.
The question here is what qualifies as the “use” of a “covered motor vehicle.” If “use” carries its ordinary meaning in these statutes, then an act is the “use” of a motor vehicle if a “covered motor vehicle” is being “employed” or “put into action or service.” That definition of “use” in this context would certainly include employing vehicles as...
9 See footnote 3. or statute, we consider text in context, not in isolation.” (citation and punctuation omitted)). See also OCGA § 36-92-1 (definitions). Scarbrough, however, has not identified any statutory text that supports a construction excluding any “use” beyond active transportation, and we see nothing in the chapter that suggests that “use” has a...
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.
MCMILLIAN, Justice. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (the “District Court”) has certified two questions to this Court regarding whether a state entity can continue asserting claims against opioid manufacturers and distributors after the State of Georgia entered into a settlement with the pharmaceutical companies, and as...
Act, and in particular, the preemption provision, is unconstitutional because it takes away HAWC’s right to pursue its already-filed lawsuit and thus violates the Georgia Constitution’s prohibition against retroactive laws. See Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Par. X (“Paragraph X”).2 As required by Fed. Rule Civ. P. 5.1,3 HAWC served a copy of its...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · December 19, 2023
Beard v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County man's felony murder conviction for shooting his wife, rejecting claims that jury instructions were flawed and that his trial lawyer's mistakes cost him a fair trial.
(c) Appellant also points to his trial counsel’s failure to request a no duty to retreat instruction. However, as explained above, Appellant has not shown that the lack of such an instruction affected 2 The current statute governing the admissibility of expert testimony in criminal cases is OCGA § 24-7-702 because the General Assembly repealed former OCGA §...
(e) Appellant also points to his trial counsel’s decision to withdraw his request for a jury instruction on defense of habitation. However, trial counsel testified at the motion for new trial hearing that based on his decades of experience as a criminal defense attorney, juries did not favor justification defenses based on a defense of habitation, and...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 21, 2023
Rountree v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Houston County man's malice murder conviction, ruling he never properly objected to the absence of voluntary manslaughter and mutual combat jury instructions and that no such instructions were required anyway.
2. As for Rountree’s contention that the trial court erred by failing to charge the jury on voluntary manslaughter, he has shown no error, much less plain error. A person is guilty of voluntary manslaughter if he “causes the death of another human being under circumstances which would otherwise be murder” and “acts solely as the result of a sudden, violent,...
316 Ga. 691 FINAL COPY S23A0531. ROUNTREE v. THE STATE.
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