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Found 72 matching 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...
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.
There was also sufficient evidence from which the jury could find that Willis was part of the group that committed the crimes. Both eyewitnesses, James and Smith, saw at least four men at the respective crime scenes. Willis’s cell-phone records offered strong support that he was one of those men. The phone records showed not only that Willis was near the...
This evidence authorized the jury to reject as unreasonable the hypotheses that Willis urges on appeal—that he was merely present at the scene of Hagood’s murder, and that when his phone pinged near the Smith robbery, he was actually at his girlfriend’s home nearby. See OCGA § 24-14-6; Poole v. State, 312 Ga. 515, 522-23 (863 SE2d 93) (2021). See also...
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 · 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.
M. J. testified that she did not tell anyone about the abuse at the time because her aunt was “happy” with Martinez-Arias, and M. J. “didn’t want him to leave [her] aunt.” Moreover, M. J. “didn’t know if anyone would believe [her],” and she was “scared” that if she disclosed the abuse to her brothers, she “would lose them too.” To cope with the abuse over...
J. to record an abusive encounter on his cell phone, he said she was “very hesitant,” but, A. J. testified, “the evidence was needed.” 2 A cell phone forensic investigator later testified that the recording was made at 10:27 p.m. on January 29, 2015. Pizano testified that when she picked up the children on the night they left their house, M. J. told her...
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.
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...
Here, the jury was presented with sufficient circumstantial evidence against Tia, which included the following. Tia was home at the time of the shooting, which happened as George was opening the front door, and the position of his body after the shooting indicated that he was shot from within the house. Tia and Lee were having an affair and lied about it to...
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.
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...
In the affidavit at issue here, Detective Justin Hipps attested as follows: cell phones belonging to both victims were recovered at the scene of the shooting. Detective Hipps called the last outgoing number from Rodgers’s phone and reached Riley, whom Rodgers’s family identified as Rodgers’s ex-girlfriend. After Riley agreed to an interview with Detective...
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 · 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...
There was no objection. However, the record shows that in cross- examining Detective Berhalter, Graham’s trial counsel pursued a line of questioning designed to highlight weaknesses in the officers’ investigation, including that the search of Jackson’s apartment missed two cell phones that were later found by a member of Jackson’s family, as well as a shell...
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 · 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.
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...
Here, the State presented sufficient evidence that McFarland was a party to the crimes charged. The State provided evidence that McFarland belonged to a criminal street gang and that he had a motive to avenge the killing of a senior gang member. Cellphone evidence showed that McFarland was in contact with Jones and Young before and immediately after the...
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.
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...
OCGA § 24-8-823 provides that all admissions “shall be scanned with care,” and a “confession alone, uncorroborated by any other evidence, shall not justify a conviction.” Simmons argues that the trial court did not adequately instruct the jury as to these principles and did not make it clear enough that a confession must be corroborated. Simmons cannot show...
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.
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 · 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...
Beamon was arrested a few weeks later in Mississippi. Beamon told police officers that he “barely knew” Spencer, but phone records showed that they had contacted each other numerous times before and after the day of the murders. Finally, cell phone records placed Spencer’s and Beamon’s phones near Watson and White’s apartment and the various ATMs (as well...
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.
(c) The visit to Chick-fil-A was allowed to view the Tucson with the car seat replaced. The jurors were not allowed to enter the vehicle, but could walk around the Tucson and look in the open driver’s door. Additionally, David Dustin, an expert in creating three- dimensional (3-D) computer models, took 3-D scans of the Tucson with the car seat replaced. He...
18 Appellant told Detective Stoddard that he took Cooper to breakfast at the Chick-fil-A “approximately 2 to 3 times a month,” but a text message he sent Leanna on March 14, 2014 said “daddy/son bfast. We haven’t done it in 2 mos,” and there were no messages or testimony indicating that Appellant took Cooper for a daddy/son breakfast between March 14 and...
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.
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...
On October 31, 2015, the day after Hooper was arrested on federal charges, a search warrant was executed at Chisholm’s apartment. In two shoe boxes in Chisholm’s bedroom closet, investigators found a gun holster, a Glock backstrap, a Glock 9mm extended magazine, work receipts with Hooper’s name on them, and multiple latex gloves. Investigators also located...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 1, 2022
Harris v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Quantavious Harris's felony murder conviction from a 2009 Fulton County taxi driver shooting, ruling that new claims raised after an earlier remand came too late and that the trial court's other rulings were proper.
3. Next, Harris argues that the trial court plainly erred in instructing the jurors that they could be “influenced” by each other’s notes. We disagree. During its preliminary instructions to the jury, the trial court told the jurors, “You can certainly be influenced or your memory refreshed by yours or somebody else’s notes, but your own recollection at the...
On appeal, Harris discusses in particular eight of the text messages that were admitted at trial: four sent from the number associated with him and four sent to that number. The State appears to defend admission of the text message sent from the number in question on the basis that they constituted admissions by Harris and thus were exempt from the hearsay...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 4, 2022
Barber v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Rashad Barber's murder conviction from a 2014 Atlanta gang shooting, ruling that an accomplice's testimony against him was sufficiently backed up by other evidence, including pawn shop video and phone records.
Video surveillance showed a car matching the stolen Acura’s description speeding on Sells Avenue moments after the shooting. Cell phone evidence from Washington’s and Wallace’s phones indicated they were together on June 13, 2014, in the area near Legacy Drive between 3:42 a.m. and 3:59 a.m., just before the shooting occurred, and in the Cleveland Avenue...
as it is independent of the accomplice’s testimony and directly connects the defendant to the crime or leads to the inference of guilt. The sufficiency of the corroboration is a matter for the jury to decide. (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Id. at 588 (2) (a). “[T]he independent evidence must corroborate both the identity of the defendant and the fact...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 15, 2022
MAYNARD v. SNAPCHAT, INC
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that Snapchat's maker can be sued for negligently designing its Speed Filter, rejecting the idea that a manufacturer never owes a safety duty when a third party misuses a product intentionally or unlawfully.
5. Snap and its amici curiae argue that, to the extent that our decisional law does not recognize an exception to a manufacturer’s design duty in every case of intentional, tortious product misuse, Georgia law would be an outlier among American jurisdictions, imposing a significantly greater scope of liability on manufacturers for design defects. We...
Although Modisette characterized this reasoning as an aspect of its “duty” analysis when addressing the plaintiffs’ negligent- design claim, the court used the same reasoning to reject the plaintiffs’ materially identical California strict-liability design- defect claim for lack of proximate causation. Unlike the negligent- design claim, the court...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 1, 2022
Brennan v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a woman's felony murder conviction for the scalding death of her young stepdaughter, ruling that a private plea-negotiation conference and a judge's brief comment to a detective did not violate her rights.
While leaving Fort Stewart, Madron was pulled over by the military police for using her cell phone while driving. Madron explained the situation concerning Harris to the military police officer and requested the U. S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (“CID”) be sent to the hospital to investigate. The military police officer told Madron that she would...
contact with her bio[logical] mother,”2 Harris “acts out” by biting her nails and pulling her hair out. A military police officer also spoke with Appellant at the hospital, and he testified that he had not observed any burns on Appellant’s hands or arms that night. Sometime that evening, Harris was transported to an Augusta hospital for more specialized...
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