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Found 312 matching passages in 135 documents.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 25, 2022
Reese v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a Laurens County man's felony murder conviction because the trial judge refused to update a jury instruction on self-defense after this court had just warned that the old wording could confuse jurors, and the confusion in fact occurred.
A few minutes after Stanley arrived and parked at the far end of the row of parking spaces, Jonathan Linder arrived in a Toyota sedan with Devero in the front passenger seat, pulled into the first spot in the row of parking spaces, and parked. Linder and Devero got out, walked to the rear of the Toyota, and leaned on either side of the trunk. A minute...
Detective Harris asked Appellant, “What did he say to you?” and then described, while writing on a piece of paper, where Devero, Linder, Thompkins, and Appellant were just before the shooting. Detective Harris continued, “You sit down in the car. He turns. He walks over . . . . It’s something that you say to him or he says to you, and from there everything...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 9, 2022
Walker v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Richmond County man's murder conviction, rejecting his argument that the evidence, including his own police statement, was not enough to prove he shot and killed his roommate.
1. Facts. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdicts, the evidence presented at trial showed the following. In early September 2017, Walker and Ferguson were living together in a house that Ferguson had rented. Walker admitted that he and Ferguson had been arguing with each other over money. Ferguson’s landlord testified that Ferguson, who...
Shortly after he was seen at the grocery store, Walker confronted Ferguson on the sidewalk of a residential street not far from their home. He pointed a gun at Ferguson, snatched Ferguson’s cell phone from his hand, and demanded money. A ten-year-old eyewitness to these events testified that Ferguson responded by saying: “[T]his is not your money, you can’t...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 15, 2022
Martinez-Arias v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a school counselor's testimony about supposed Latino and Mexican cultural attitudes toward sexual abuse should not have been admitted at a child molestation trial, but found the error harmless and upheld the conviction.
The prosecutor again asked Escamilla: “Have you, in your research with Latino victims of sexual abuse, noticed any cultural norms regarding sexual abuse in the Latino culture?” Escamilla responded: There’s guilt, shame, lack of family support and lack of reporting among the children. And also the support from the family members because of the fear of shame,...
Escamilla then offered extensive testimony about her personal interactions with M. J. As a school counselor, Escamilla met with M. J. “frequently” and “followed up” about “previous counseling sessions” that M. J. had attended with a different counselor, including in one-on-one meetings with M. J. In describing her personal observations of M. J.’s...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 2, 2022
Roberts v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Melvin Roberts's murder conviction, ruling that some evidence of a robbery he committed nine days earlier was properly admitted because it directly tied him to the murder weapon, and any remaining error was harmless.
1. Facts (a) Around 7:30 p.m. on November 1, 2016, 23-year-old Jabari Pettway left the Duluth apartment he shared with his brother, Marqueze Marshall, in his 2012 silver Dodge Avenger. Marshall testified that his brother was going to meet a friend and that he left carrying a red book bag, along with his wallet and cell phone. Later that evening, around...
The victim of the shooting was later identified as Pettway. The medical examiner testified that he had suffered five gunshot wounds, one to the arm and four to the back, and opined that the manner of death was homicide. Witness Jimmy Beaver testified that late in the evening on November 1, he was watching the World Series on television at his Snellville...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 29, 2022
Young v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Tia Young's felony murder conviction in her husband's shooting death, finding the circumstantial evidence sufficient and rejecting her claims about a joint trial and jury instructions.
Officers searched the home and found two handgun holsters and one handgun in Lee’s room, as well as a rifle in Lee’s truck. A firearm examiner determined that the shooter used a .40-caliber M&P Smith and Wesson handgun. This weapon was never located, and there was no evidence that either Tia or Lee had ever possessed or purchased a .40-caliber Smith and...
The evidence introduced at trial also showed that, while away from home on November 17, Tia called a friend who had come to the Young home after hearing of George’s death. Tia asked the friend to find and “get” the cell phones belonging to both Tia and Lee, which were in their respective bedrooms. The friend did not comply with this request. At trial, the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 25, 2022
Willis v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Stephen Willis's convictions in a Fulton County murder, robbery, and carjacking case, finding the circumstantial cell-phone and eyewitness evidence enough to convict and rejecting his ineffective-assistance claims.
2 At trial, James admitted that he was “troubled” when he identified Bates in the photo array, because the photo of Bates in the array did not show him with a dreadlocks hairstyle. See Fortson, 313 Ga. at 210 (1). Demeester contacted Smith and learned that his cell phone had been stolen in the robbery. The detective then subpoenaed the phone records...
Jordan and Bates were arrested and interviewed. Portions of their statements were played for the jury. In Jordan’s interview, he admitted that he was present at the armed robbery of Smith, that he took Smith’s phone (and later sold it), and that he then drove to another location where a “white man” was robbed. Bates, in his statement, admitted that he was...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 22, 2022
Copeland v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Gwinnett County man's convictions for murdering two men, rejecting his claims that the trial court lacked jurisdiction, that the evidence was insufficient, and that his cell phone records were searched without probable cause.
2 Copeland argues that Tolbert is distinguishable because the record in that case was never prepared and transmitted to the appellate court. But the effectiveness of a notice of appeal does not depend on whether it has been docketed in this Court or whether the record has been transmitted to this Court. 2. Having resolved the threshold jurisdictional...
From about 1:45 to 2:00 a.m. on January 28, 2017, the motel resident in the room above Rodgers heard a man and a woman arguing outside of the motel, and then heard a “thud” followed by a woman’s scream. Around the same time, some people in a car driving through the parking lot of the motel saw Johnson’s body lying in the parking lot. After dropping someone...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 15, 2022
Fortson v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Demetruis Fortson's felony murder conviction, ruling that circumstantial cell phone and hairstyle evidence was enough for a jury to find him guilty as a party to the crimes, over a dissent.
An Atlanta police detective investigated the shooting of Hagood. The detective testified at trial and offered his opinions as an expert in cell phone technology and forensics data recovery and analysis. In reviewing the records associated with Hagood’s phone, the detective saw that a text message was sent to that phone at 1:29 p.m. on March 26, which was...
At trial, Fortson’s mother testified that Fortson did not have a phone and used her phone sometimes, and that people got in touch with Fortson by calling her phone. Fortson’s mother said that she received a call from Southern around noon on the day of the robbery and shooting, when she was eating breakfast at a neighbor’s house. Southern was looking for...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 4, 2022
Lee v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Harvey Lee's murder conviction, rejecting his claims that his trial lawyers were constitutionally ineffective for not objecting to evidence about the victim's good character, a family photo, and comments on his silence during a police interview.
On November 17, the morning after the shooting, George’s employer went to the Young home, and Tia asked him to help her find George’s one-million-dollar life insurance policy, of which she was the primary beneficiary. Tia located the policy and notified the insurance company of George’s death later that day. That same day, Lee went to George’s office...
After the interviews, officers went to the Young home with a search warrant, seized the tracking device from Lee’s bedroom, and subpoenaed records from the device. Officers also recovered cell phones from the home. Lee’s phone revealed Internet searches on October 28, 2017, about poisonous snake or spider venom for sale. Lee’s phone history also showed that...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 17, 2022
Washington v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Gwinnett County man's murder conviction, rejecting claims that his trial lawyer was ineffective and that he was wrongly excluded from a discussion about which exhibits would go to the jury room.
felony murder predicated on armed robbery (Count 2), felony murder predicated on aggravated assault (Count 3), felony murder predicated on hijacking a motor vehicle (Count 4), armed robbery (Count 5), aggravated assault (Count 6), and hijacking a motor vehicle (Count 7), and indicted only Appellant for possession of a firearm by a first offender probationer...
A neighbor who lived across from Appellant testified that on the morning of May 28, he saw Appellant scrubbing the back seat of Purcell’s car and taking a basket of clothes out of the car. The basket, which was later found during a search of Appellant’s house, contained a comforter with a bullet hole and a stain that tested positive for Purcell’s blood,...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 30, 2022
Talley v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Mario Talley's murder conviction in a fatal shooting at an Atlanta apartment, finding that any error in admitting testimony about a prior dispute between the victim and Talley was harmless and that his trial lawyer's decisions did not amount to ineffective assistance.
7 The State also introduced cell phone data showing that Edwards’s phone was on the east side of Atlanta between 11:06 and 11:12 on the night of the shooting and was not connecting to any cell towers near Knight’s apartment complex at that time. An expert in cell phone technology testified The police later obtained a search warrant for Knight’s apartment.8...
Talley was arrested on March 16 and, after being given Miranda warnings,9 was interviewed by two detectives. An audio and video recording of the interview was played for the jury. Talley said that, although he had heard that Walker had been shot and killed, he was not at Knight’s apartment at the time of the shootings but that he had been to the complex...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 4, 2022
Beamon v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Vernon Beamon's murder convictions for a 2016 DeKalb County double killing, finding the circumstantial evidence tying him to the crimes was strong enough for the jury to convict, and ruled his two firearm convictions did not have to merge.
Moreover, even though there was no direct evidence of Beamon’s guilt, the circumstantial evidence presented at trial allowed the jury to infer that Beamon was a party to the crimes committed. In particular, the evidence showed that Beamon and Spencer were active members of the same gang — the “Rolling 20s” — and that on the morning of October 24, Beamon’s...
Based on this evidence, the jury was free to reject as unreasonable the possibility that some other unidentified person was using Beamon’s SUV and phone and that this unidentified individual was the second man seen in the vehicle. Instead, the jury could reasonably infer that Beamon was involved and shared the requisite intent to commit the crimes with...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 22, 2022
Jones v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed the murder convictions of two men because the trial judge removed a dissenting juror during deliberations without making findings strong enough to justify the removal.
Twitty, who was in a relationship with Tekoa Young, Jones’s sister. In November 2015, Twitty was shot and killed at his house. Young believed that Meredith was the culprit because he had been in a drug-related dispute with Twitty. After Twitty’s death, Young called Shanna Douglas, who was Young’s best friend and Meredith’s girlfriend. During that phone...
Cellphone data introduced at trial showed that the cellphones associated with Jones, McFarland, and Young were all in the area of Peachtree Mall at the time of the shooting. Young’s phone placed three calls right after the shooting, two to McFarland and one to Jones. Young also sent McFarland a text message (which Young subsequently deleted) asking “y’all...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 25, 2022
Simmons v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Troy Simmons's felony murder conviction in a gang-related methamphetamine dispute killing, rejecting claims about jury instructions and ineffective defense counsel.
GBI Investigator Lawrence Kelly was also involved in the investigation into Lee’s death. During that investigation, Investigator Kelly talked to Lee’s brother, Luis Bowden, who said that he was involved in drug distribution in Wayne County with both Simmons and Lee. Investigator Kelly then turned his investigation to and began communicating with Simmons. In...
6 Bowden also testified that Bishop was a member of the “Bloods” gang, was involved in methamphetamine trafficking, and was incarcerated at the time of the shooting. admitted that, after Brown shot Lee, Simmons disposed of the firearm by giving it to someone behind a gas station near Atlanta. Other evidence also supported Simmons’s statement that he had...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 8, 2022
Graham v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Haleem Graham's felony murder and home invasion convictions, ruling that circumstantial evidence tying him to his co-defendants before and after the killing was enough to support the jury's verdict.
Detective Scott Demeester, who was qualified as an expert in cell phone data interpretation and cell site analysis, testified regarding data recovered from the defendants’ cell phones. A cell phone number associated with Washington — but identified in Jackson’s phone with Siders’s nickname — called Jackson’s phone on the morning of January 5; after that...
Siders, the only defendant to testify at trial, told the jury that he and Washington were part of a musical group that Graham managed and that they met in South Carolina on January 5, 2016, to work in a music studio. According to Siders, that evening, they decided to drive to Atlanta for a promotional photo shoot, but Washington stayed at the hotel because...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · April 19, 2022
Dickey v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Richmond County man's murder conviction, ruling that surveillance video, an officer's identification testimony, and a shooting victim's own identification gave the jury enough evidence to convict.
Jones called 911 to report that he had been involved in a shooting, and when responding officers arrived at the gas station, Jones directed them to two guns lying in the grass behind the convenience store: a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber pistol and a Lorcin .380-caliber pistol in poor condition with the slide locked open. Officers also recovered a .380-caliber...
Two other recordings of video from about an hour later show parts of the parking lot in front of the store extending to either end of a row of gas pumps, with a gap in coverage in the middle. These recordings show Appellant and Leach running back and forth across the parking lot while, according to the trial testimony, Jackson and Jones were out of view on...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 15, 2022
Shelton v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld James Shelton's malice murder conviction in the death of Manuel Palmer, rejecting arguments that the evidence was insufficient and that his trial lawyers were constitutionally deficient for not pursuing a criminal-responsibility evaluation.
Brandon took Appellant to the hospital around 1:00 p.m. A security video recording from the WellStar Hospital in Douglasville showed Appellant in a white shirt, brown shorts, black shoes, and a hat entering the emergency room front desk area at 1:38 p.m. Two days later, a Douglas County Sheriff’s deputy was at the hospital for an unrelated matter. The...
Aycock also submitted Appellant’s cell phone to a forensics lab. The data extracted from the phone showed that Appellant’s phone made several calls on the night that Palmer was killed. At 7:01 p.m., Appellant’s phone called Palmer’s phone, and the phone call lasted 9 The white shirt that Appellant was seen wearing in the hospital security video recording...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 22, 2022
Inquiry Concerning Judge Eric W. Norris
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ordered a public reprimand for a Western Judicial Circuit judge who summoned a bail bondsman to his chambers and berated him for 30 minutes over a Facebook post criticizing the judge.
On the morning of July 10, Owens went to the courthouse with Elliott and another bondsman, Scott Hall. When the trio arrived at Judge Norris’s chambers, an armed deputy took their cell phones. Judge Norris then arrived, visibly upset, and instructed Elliott and Hall to remain in the lobby while Owens went into Judge Norris’s office. A deputy stood in the...
3 It is not surprising that no Georgia disciplinary case has required a public apology as a sanction because a compelled apology is not listed as a potential sanction in the JQC Rules; rather, the Panel majority decided to fashion a sanction pursuant to the catchall “other appropriate disciplinary action” provision in JQC Rule 6 (B) (8). testifying[,] which...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 8, 2022
Hooper v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Timone Hooper's murder conviction, rejecting claims that his lawyer should have requested a jury instruction on corroborating confessions and that spectators were wrongly excluded during juror questioning.
On October 30, 2015, Hooper was arrested on other charges while he was driving Chisholm’s car. Chisholm testified that, following Hooper’s arrest, during a phone call that was being recorded, Hooper told her that police officers had her car and were searching it. This prompted Chisholm to ask Hooper if there was anything in her house that she “need[ed] to...
Boston also identified Hooper at trial. Malika Spencer testified as follows. She contacted the police and informed detectives that, on September 16, 2015, as she was sitting on some exterior stairs in the Fred Wessels Homes complex in Savannah, she overheard four men talking about a murder. Spencer overheard one man, later identified as Hooper, tell the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 22, 2022
Harris v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed Justin Ross Harris's murder and child cruelty convictions for leaving his toddler son Cooper to die in a hot car, ruling the trial court wrongly let jurors hear excessive and highly prejudicial evidence of his extramarital sex life.
marital “ups and downs.” He also recounted his day, providing the details discussed above. He said that his forgetting about Cooper was an accident. Appellant also said that he was aware of the danger of leaving a child in a hot car because he had seen “a news report about a guy who did this.” Appellant explained that the man is now “an advocate for when...
Shortly after Appellant’s interview ended, Detective Stoddard told Appellant that he was being arrested for felony murder and cruelty to children. Appellant said that he did not understand why because he had said that it was an accident.46 Appellant was then taken to a holding cell, where he spoke to a man who was finishing 45 Appellant’s e-mail records...
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