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Found 104 matching documents.
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.
4. Appellant’s next contention alleges error by the trial court in denying her plea in bar. On August 18, 2018, Appellant filed a plea in bar, asserting that her constitutional right to a speedy trial had been violated because, following her indictment, the trial of her case was continued from multiple trial calendars, primarily at the State’s request. The...
(a) Threshold inquiry. Courts examining an alleged denial of the constitutional right to a speedy trial first must consider whether the interval between the defendant’s arrest, indictment, or other formal accusation and the trial is sufficiently long so as to be characterized as presumptively prejudicial. If the delay is long enough to invoke the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 5, 2021
Tyson v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed LeMichael Tyson's felony murder conviction in the death of his girlfriend's 22-month-old daughter, rejecting claims about juror bias, missing trial transcripts, appellate delay, and ineffective defense lawyering.
9 Tyson contends that he could not obtain testimony regarding events at trial because the trial judge, the court reporter, and a courtroom deputy have died. But Tyson’s trial counsel was available and testified at the hearing on Tyson’s motion for new trial with regard to various matters that occurred at trial. And nothing in the record indicates that the...
“Substantial delays in the appellate process implicate due process rights, and we review appellate due process claims under the four-factor analysis used for speedy trial claims set forth in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U. S. 514 (92 SCt 2182, 33 LE2d 101) (1972).” Veal v. State, 301 Ga. 161, 167 (3) (800 SE2d 325) (2017). “In assessing a due process claim premised...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 19, 2021
American Civil Liberties Union, Inc. v. Zeh
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a Glynn County misdemeanor public defender sued the ACLU for defamation was a public official, meaning he had to prove the ACLU knew its blog post was false or recklessly disregarded the truth, which he failed to show on the current record.
The proper provision of constitutionally required legal representation for indigent criminal defendants in Glynn County’s misdemeanor cases is a matter in which the public has an independent interest. Cf. Vermont v. Brillon, 556 U.S. 81, 93-94 (129 SCt 1283, 173 LE2d 231) (2009) (explaining in the context of the constitutional right to a speedy trial that a...
8 The record does not indicate who appointed Zeh to this position. Liberties Union Foundation (“ACLU Foundation”)9 filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia a civil rights lawsuit against Glynn County, the County’s chief magistrate judge and sheriff, and Zeh, as the “Glynn County Misdemeanor Public Defender.” The lawsuit...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 19, 2021
Walker v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a trial court's order dismissing a DUI case for lack of prosecution counts as a dismissal without prejudice even if the statute of limitation has since run, reversing the Court of Appeals.
2. It appears that Georgia trial courts have long exercised the authority to dismiss criminal cases for want of prosecution without prejudice. See Grantham v. State, 84 Ga. 559, 560 (11 SE 140) (1889) (noting, in a case affirming the defendant’s conviction for stabbing, that a prior case against the defendant had been “dismissed for want of prosecution”)....
BOGGS, Presiding Justice. We granted certiorari in this case to decide whether a trial court’s order dismissing a criminal case for want of prosecution, which does not say that it is with prejudice to refiling, nevertheless constitutes an impermissible dismissal with prejudice if the applicable statute of limitation has run. We conclude that such a...
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.
Here, none of the challenged exhibits were written testimony, nor did they derive their evidentiary value solely from the credibility of the makers of the exhibits. See Clarke v. State, 308 Ga. 630, 636 (4) (842 SE2d 863) (2020); Keller, 308 Ga. at 505-506 (9). Instead, they were original documentary evidence and were properly allowed to go out with the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 21, 2021
SCHMITZ v. BARRON, DIRECTOR
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the dismissal of a Fulton County election contest over a Georgia House seat, ruling that the losing candidate had to be formally served with notice and failed to show he diligently pursued that service.
This short time period reflects the [General Assembly’s] strong desire to avoid election uncertainty and the confusion and prejudice which can come in its wake. Certainly, the swift resolution of election contests is vital for the smooth operation of government. (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Swain, 281 Ga. at 31 (2). As we noted in Martin, “[t]his...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 1, 2021
RIOS v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that two men charged in a fatal shooting can be retried after a mistrial was declared when a newly discovered ballistics report surfaced during trial, holding double jeopardy did not block a second trial.
In response, the trial court asked Carter’s counsel “how long [it would] take to get [his] ballistics expert[ ] . . . up to speed on this.” Carter’s counsel responded that he was “unsure if [he could] answer that question” because he would “need to make arrangements” to get “copies of the physical evidence” from the State and because he was “not sure what...
Here, the record shows that the trial court exercised its discretion and considered the relevant circumstances before granting a mistrial. Indeed, when the prosecutor informed the trial court and defense counsel about Burdick’s fourth report, Rios’s counsel said that “the information we’ve just received is vital to our defense” and that “we simply cannot go...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · April 5, 2021
Johnson v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a Fulton County man convicted of murder can be retried, finding that the trial evidence was legally sufficient for a jury to convict even without corroborating an accomplice's testimony.
BOGGS, Justice. This is the fourth appearance of this case before this Court. At a 2014 jury trial, John “Shug” Johnson was found guilty of malice murder and other offenses in connection with the shooting death of Brandon Scott. Johnson’s motion for new trial was granted on the basis of plain error in the jury instructions, and this Court affirmed that...
311 Ga. 221 FINAL COPY S21A0034. JOHNSON v. THE STATE.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 8, 2021
Nelson v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the denial of a murder defendant's motion to suppress cell phone and laptop evidence, ruling that his long incarceration and failure to ask for the devices back weakened his privacy interest despite a two-year delay.
On January 18, 2018, Stoddard obtained separate warrants to search each of Nelson’s devices for electronic data related to the crimes. On that same day, he submitted a written request for forensic analysis of each device to what is now known as the Cobb Police Department’s Technology Based Crimes Unit (“TBCU”). But more than a year passed before TBCU...
Nelson again moved to suppress the evidence extracted from days from the time of issuance shall be void and shall be returned to the court of the judicial officer issuing the same as ‘not executed.’” 3 The trial court found that it was undisputed that Detective Stoddard relied on no information derived from the data extractions pursuant to the 2018 search...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 18, 2021
Seals v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a criminal case is not final and appealable if any count of the indictment has been placed on the 'dead docket' rather than dismissed, convicted, or acquitted.
and remains so unless or until it is returned to the active docket. See OCGA § 15-6-61 (a) (4) (B). See also Howard, 776 F3d at 775- 776. Additionally, although this Court and the Court of Appeals maintain that a dead-docketed case/count is a “pending” case/count, Newman and its progeny also acknowledge that a dead-docketed case/count merely “can be called...
Under our current ruling, whenever a criminal trial results in a conviction on one or more counts and a mistrial on others, the defendant cannot directly appeal his conviction — even when a written disposition has been filed of record — if the defendant’s mistried counts are placed on the dead docket. Instead, in these circumstances, which are common, the...
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.
. . . I’ve got some other cases. You can have a seat, Mr. Houston, but I’m not resetting your case. If you decide you’re not going to do it, you will go back to [State Court] Judge Dixon[’s] trial calendar and if you enter a plea there I’ll do whatever the recommendation [is] without the DUI Treatment Court. You have had plenty of time to think about this...
The trial court also asked Houston if he had any questions about his rights; Houston said that he did not. When the trial court gave Houston the opportunity to ask questions, he asked only about serving his custodial sentence, including whether he could serve it on weekends and whether he would get credit for time served. Houston then pleaded guilty to a...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 10, 2021
Vivian v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Nathaniel Vivian's convictions for felony murder, armed robbery, and related crimes in the shooting death of Daniel Zeitz, rejecting his self-representation and ineffective-counsel claims, but sent the case back for resentencing because he was wrongly sentenced on two felony murder counts for one victim.
The medical examiner testified that Zeitz suffered a gunshot wound to the right side of his neck, resulting in his death, and the gun found in Vivian’s car was later matched to a shell casing found at the scene of Zeitz’s shooting. 1. Vivian first asserts that the trial court erred by failing to conduct a hearing on his request for new counsel and advise...
(d) Vivian also argues that his trial counsel was ineffective in 5 Although Vivian did not ask his trial counsel at the motion hearing why she chose not to challenge the jury panels, trial counsel testified, in response to questioning by the State, that at the time of Vivian’s trial, which was before Ricks was issued, she had never heard of a successful...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 1, 2021
Jordan v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a man who pleaded guilty to felony murder mid-trial had an absolute right to withdraw that plea before sentencing, and reversed the trial court's refusal to let him do so.
3 A trial court can also protect against such manipulation by promptly sentencing a defendant. And if the defendant pleads guilty during trial, the trial court can hold the jury until the defendant is sentenced. 4 Jordan also argues that the judgment is void because his indictment was fatally defective in that the felony murder count averred neither the...
attached and at any time during trial, as well as in the form of a motion in arrest of judgment after a verdict in the same term of court.” (citations and punctuation omitted)).
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 5, 2021
Steen v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Burke County man's malice murder conviction but sent his case back to the trial court because it never ruled on his claim that he was wrongly excluded from bench conferences during jury selection.
2. We next address Steen’s right-to-be-present claim. Since the earliest years of this Court, we have held that the Georgia Constitution guarantees [a] criminal defendants[ ] the right to be present, and see and hear, all the proceedings which are had against him on the trial before the Court. It also has long been established that proceedings at which the...
In an amended motion for new trial filed by Steen’s second appellate counsel in April 2019, Steen’s right-to-be-present claim was raised for the first time. During one of the four hearings on Steen’s motion for new trial, trial counsel testified that Steen was present at counsel table during the bench conferences at issue and never indicated that he wished...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 1, 2021
Thomas v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Tony Thomas's murder and gang activity convictions from two drive-by shootings in DeKalb County, rejecting claims that prosecutors hid witness felony records and that his lawyer or the trial judge should have flagged those records for the jury.
(b) The trial court’s failure to give sua sponte a jury instruction on impeachment by a prior conviction. As with his related ineffective assistance of counsel claim, Thomas contends that the evidence of Wilson’s voluntary manslaughter plea warranted a jury instruction on impeachment by a prior conviction and that, without an instruction, the jury was not...
3. Thomas contends that his trial counsel performed deficiently by failing to make a timely motion to sever counts and to object to certain testimony. (a) Failure to make a timely motion to sever counts. Thomas contends that his counsel performed deficiently by failing to file a timely motion to sever the trial based on the two separate incidents and that...
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.
a jury is deadlocked. (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Mills v. State, 308 Ga. 558, 560 (2) (842 SE2d 284) (2020). See also Hill v. State, 263 Ga. 37, 41 (8) (427 SE2d 770) (1993) (A trial court has an obligation to investigate the need to excuse an allegedly incapacitated juror, and this is “especially true where the jury has begun its deliberations...
7 Because a juror’s verdict must be based on the evidence in the case, a trial court may excuse for cause a prospective juror who has formed a fixed opinion as to the defendant’s guilt or innocence prior to hearing any evidence in a case. See Miller v. State, 275 Ga. 730, 736 (5) (571 SE2d 788) (2002). But, once a juror has heard the evidence, the arguments...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 17, 2021
ALLEN v. DAKER (And Vice Versa)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that Waseem Daker, convicted of murdering Karmen Smith, was never validly warned of or gave up his right to a lawyer for his post-conviction appeal, so he must get a new appeal process.
2. Daker’s right-to-appellate-counsel claim. In this Court, Daker contends that he was denied his constitutional right to counsel for the direct appeal of his criminal convictions, specifically arguing that he did not waive his right to appellate counsel and that the determination of his indigency status for appointment of counsel was improperly delegated...
Although Daker expressly waived his right to counsel for trial, the record does not show that he ever expressly or functionally waived his right to appellate counsel. To the contrary, the record shows that after he was convicted, Daker repeatedly requested counsel to assist him in his motion for new trial proceeding and direct appeal. (a) Express waiver. In...
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.
18 Another state appellate court decision holding that the federal Constitution does not require providing experts to indigent criminal Thankfully, we need not answer definitively today the question of whether Duke’s pro bono representation means he is not constitutionally entitled to publicly funded expert defense services. But it may well be that Duke is...
16 It seems to me that the State could make a pretty good case that the assertion of each of these rights creates inefficiencies of one kind or another. Or, at least, that requiring their waivers would generate more efficiencies than the State’s attempt in this case to force Duke to accept state-funded counsel when he doesn’t want it. Many of the most...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 2, 2021
Schoicket v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a woman who pleaded guilty to felony murder cannot use her court-granted out-of-time appeal as a way to also file a late motion to withdraw her guilty plea, though it fixed an error in her sentence on a separate count.
19 See OCGA §§ 5-5-20; 5-5-21; Felts v. State, 311 Ga. 547, 550 n.6 (858 SE2d 708) (2021); Holmes v. State, 306 Ga. 524, 527-528 (2) (832 SE2d 392) (2019). 20 See Brady v. Maryland, 373 U. S. 83 (83 SCt 1194, 10 LE2d 215) (1963); Mitchell v. State, 307 Ga. 855, 860-863 (2) (b) (838 SE2d 847) (2020); Hall v. State, 286 Ga. 358, 360-361 (3) (687 SE2d 819)...
8 Ironically, Ponder defended its holding as bringing finality far sooner than a habeas proceeding would, because an ineffectiveness claim could “be promptly resolved by the judge who presided over the trial as opposed to having it resolved by a habeas corpus court somewhere down the road.” Ponder, 260 Ga. at 842 (1) (citation and punctuation omitted). But...
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.
Especially “when viewed in context,” Brooks v. State, 271 Ga. 698, 699 (523 SE2d 866) (1999), we cannot say that a reasonable officer under the circumstances would have interpreted Lewis’s statements to be “clear and unambiguous” expressions of a desire to have counsel present during his April 24 phone call from jail, Taylor, 304 Ga. at 48. That context...
To be voluntary, a statement must be free and willingly given without coercion, duress, threats, use of violence, fear of injury, or any suggestions or promises of leniency or reward. A statement induced by the slightest hope of benefit or the remotest fear of injury is not voluntary. To be voluntary, a statement must be the product of a free will and not...
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