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  • Dent v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-16
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals | Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Chief Justice Hines
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Deborah Lorraine Leslie (The Leslie Group, LLC), Jonesboro, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Jason Matthew Rea (Department of Law), Atlanta; Elizabeth A. Baker, Tracy Graham Lawson (Clayton County District Attorney's Office), Jonesboro, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1641

    The evidence supported defendant's convictions for felony murder while in the commission of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and the trial court did not reversibly err in declining to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter, as the evidence did not support such a charge.

  • Drews v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-15
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Benham
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Veronica M. O'Grady (GPDC Appellate Division), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Matthew Blackwell Crowder (Department of Law), Atlanta; Rosemary M. Greene, Jana Willingham Allen (Cherokee Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Cartersville, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1873

    Defense Counsel Not Constitutionally Ineffective Assistance For Failing to Investigate Allegations Raised in Supplemental Police Report and Video

  • Kennedy v. Kohnle

    Publication Date: 2018-03-15
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Appeals | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Peterson
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Ashleigh Dene Headrick, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Macklyn A. Smith, Lawrenceville, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1419

    The habeas court erred in applying Alexander v. State, 297 Ga. 59 (2015) retroactively to find that plea counsel performed deficiently in failing to advise defendant that she would not be eligible for parole for 30 years if she pleaded guilty, as Alexander created a "new rule" and thus did not apply retroactively.

  • Fletcher v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-15
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Grant
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: David Joseph Walker (Georgia Public Defenders Standards Council, Appellate Division), Macon, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Jason Matthew Rea (Department of Law), Atlanta; Bradford Lee Rigby (Cordele Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Cordele, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1978

    Error, if any, In Admitting Other Acts Evidence of Drug Dealing and Violence Was Harmless

  • Kemp v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-15
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Peterson
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Konrad Gerhard Waldemar Ziegler, Christopher Ryan Lee (Lee & Ziegler, LLP), Canton, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Matthew Min-soo Youn, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Michael Scott Carlson, John Stuart Melvin, D. Victor Reynolds, John Richard Edwards (Cobb County District Attorney's Office), Marietta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1646

    The evidence supported defendants' convictions for malice murder and other crimes in connection with a planned robbery that turned fatal and the trial court properly admitted a former police informant's testimony about statements one of the defendants made to him while they were in jail together, as the former informant was not acting as a government agent at that time.

  • Malverty v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-14
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Hunstein
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Brian P. Malverty, Abbeville, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Paul L. Howard, Jr., Lyndsey Hurst Rudder, Michael V. Snow (Fulton County District Attorney's Office), Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1468

    The trial court properly denied defendant's motion for an out-of-time appeal following his 1986 guilty plea to two counts of felony murder, as his claim that the indictment was defective could be resolved against him on the existing record and he thus was not entitled to a direct appeal on the issue.

  • Lucas v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-14
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Blackwell
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Mitchell D. Durham, Marietta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Ashleigh Dene Headrick, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Benjamin M. First, Amelia Greeson Pray, D. Victor Reynolds, Michael Scott Carlson (Cobb County District Attorney's Office), Marietta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1911

    No Error in Trial Court's Refusal to Allow Cross-Examination of Prosecution Witnesses as to Their Immigration Status

  • Leeks v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-14
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Peterson
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Genevieve Holmes (Georgia Public Defender Council), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Meghan Hobbs Hill (Department of Law), Atlanta; Paul L. Howard, Jr., Marc A. Mallon, Lyndsey Hurst Rudder (Fulton County District Attorney's Office), Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1585

    The trial court did not reversibly err in its jury charges in defendant's trial for malice murder and other charges stemming from the robbery and fatal shooting of a Fulton County convenience store clerk.

  • Norwood v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-13
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Hunstein
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Jackie Glenn Patterson (Patterson Firm, LLC), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Elizabeth Haase Brock, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Kenneth W. Mauldin, Brian Vance Patterson (Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Athens; David T. Lock, Savannah, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1354

    The trial court did not err in admitting two statements defendant made to law enforcement officers while recovering in the hospital after giving birth to a baby at home and then fatally stabbing the baby and attempting to hide the evidence.

  • McCoy v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-13
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Hunstein
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Ryan Christopher Locke (Locke Law Firm LLC), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Aimee F. Sobhani (Department of Law), Atlanta; Anna Green Cross, Sherry Boston, Gerald Mason (DeKalb County District Attorney's Office) Decatur, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1915

    Trial Counsel Did Not Fail to Conduct Thorough Cross-Examination of Witness to Shooting