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  • Hernandez-Ramirez v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-05-03
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge McFadden
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: David Walker (GPDSC Athens Regional Conflict Defender Office), Athens, for appellant.
    for defendant: David White (District Attorney), Hartwell; Meghan Bowden (Northern Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Elberton, for appellee.
    Case Number: A18A0037

    Pro Se Motion to Withdraw Plea Was Nullity Where Defendant Was Represented By Counsel When He Filed His Motion

  • Soberanis v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-05-03
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge Ellington
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Brian Hobbs (Elwart & Hobbs), Marietta; Debra Jefferson (Attorney at Law), Lawrenceville; Jorge Soberanis, Jackson, for appellant.
    for defendant: Cliff Head (Assistant District Attorney Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit), Canton; Shannon Wallace (District Attorney), Canton, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1578

    Pro Se Defendant's Appeal Was Nullity Where He Was Still Represented by Counsel When He Filed Appeal

  • Beasley v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-05-02
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge McFadden
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Ramon Alvarado (Attorney at Law), Norcross; Ankur Trivedi (Trivedi Law Firm LLC), Lawrenceville, for appellant.
    for defendant: Daryl Manns (Assistant District Attorney Houston Judicial Circuit), Perry; Daniel Porter (District Attorney Gwinnett Justice & Administrative Center), Lawrenceville, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1809

    Because defendant's prior nolo contendere plea to shoplifting was not a conviction for purposes of the sentencing provision of the shoplifting statute, he could not be found guilty of felony theft by shoplifting and the trial court erred in denying his motion to quash and special demurrer.

  • Bourassa v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-05-01
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Bethel
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Stephen Reba (Attorney at Law), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Emily Richardson (Douglas County District Attorney's Office), Douglasville; Brian Fortner (Douglas County District Attorney), Douglasville; Bonnie Smith (Assistant District Attorney Douglas County Courthouse), Douglasville, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1602

    The trial court did not err in holding that defendant did not satisfy his burden of establishing standing to challenge the introduction of telephone calls law enforcement intercepted, as none of the targeted phone numbers belonged to or were associated with defendant and defendant did not offer or point to any testimony or other evidence that established that his voice could be heard in the recordings State sought to introduce.

  • The State v. Abbott

    Publication Date: 2018-05-01
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Chief Justice Hines
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Joshua Bradley Smith, Henry Wayne Syms Jr., Tyler McKenzie Gray (Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Augusta; Christopher M. Carr, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith (Department of Law), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Ricardo Bravo (Law Offices of Ricardo Bravo LLC), Augusta; Charles R. Sheppard, Evans, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1583

    The trial court properly suppressed defendant's pre-Miranda warning statements to investigators but applied the wrong legal standard in suppressing his post-Miranda statements, which the trial court determined resulted from an improper interrogate first, warn later procedure.

  • Robinson v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-04-30
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Boggs
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Margaret Elizabeth Heinen (Office of the Public Defender, Atlanta Judicial Circuit), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Meghan Hobbs Hill (Department of Law), Atlanta; Rosemary M. Greene, Sharon Moyer Fox (Cherokee Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Cartersville, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1903

    The evidence supported defendant's convictions for malice murder, two counts of felony murder, attempted armed robbery, possession of a firearm in commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and there was ample evidence corroborating the accomplice's testimony.

  • The State v. Andre Plaines

    Publication Date: 2018-04-30
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Branch
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Margaret Heap (District Attorney), Savannah; Kristjan Whiteway (Office of the District Attorney Eastern Judicial District), Savannah, for appellant.
    for defendant: Amy Ihrig (Public Defenders Office EJC), Savannah, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1433

    The trial court abused its discretion in denying State's motion of its intention to introduce other-act evidence in defendant's trial, as the trial court erred in finding that the other-acts evidence was not relevant under O.C.G.A. § 24-4-404 (b).

  • McKoy v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-04-27
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Nahmias
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Thomas McKee West (Thomas M. West, Attorney at Law), Bethlehem, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Vanessa Therese Meyerhoefer (Department of Law), Atlanta; Brian Keith Fortner; Sean Alexander Garrett (Douglas County District Attorney's Office), Douglasville, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1994

    The trial court did not err in striking defendant's direct testimony after he refused to submit to cross-examination in his trial on a charge of malice murder in connection with the shooting death of his estranged wifes girlfriend.

  • Jenkins v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-04-27
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Chief Justice Hines
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Brian Steel (The Steel Law Firm PC), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, S. Taylor Johnston (Department of Law), Atlanta; Elizabeth A. Baker, Jay Marvin Jackson, Tracy Graham Lawson, Elizabeth Rosenwasser (Clayton County District Attorney's Office), Jonesboro, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1743

    Although the evidence supported defendant's convictions for felony murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of aggravated battery in connection with the shooting death of his son, the Court partially vacated his sentences and remanded for resentencing because the possession charges merged with each other and the trial court erred in sentencing defendant on both counts.

  • Goodrum v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-04-26
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Grant
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Matthew K. Winchester (Law Offices of Matthew K. Winchester), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Meghan Hobbs Hill (Department of Law), Atlanta; Monique Lynn Kirby, Edward Andrew Case III (Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), LaGrange; Peter J. Skandalakis (Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia), Morrow, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1748

    Defendant Had No Constitutional Right to Be Present When Attorneys Met in Chambers With Judge to Discuss Juror's Qualification