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  • Jacobs v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-04-13
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Presiding Justice Melton
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Kristina Goodwin Connell (Connell Law Firm), Augusta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Matthew David O'Brien (Department of Law), Atlanta; Kevin Richard Majeska, William Patrick Doupé, Dennis C. Sanders (Toombs Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Thomson, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1892

    The evidence supported defendant's convictions related to the murder of his wife and the trial court did not err in allowing State to introduce into evidence certain statements the victim made before her death under the residual hearsay exception contained in O.C.G.A. § 24-8-807 of Georgias new Evidence Code.

  • Anthony v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-04-12
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Blackwell
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Michael Harvey Saul, Marietta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Vanessa Therese Meyerhoefer, Christopher M. Carr, John Stuart Melvin (Cobb County District Attorney's Office), Marietta; Michael Scott Carlson, John Richard Edwards, Jesse David Evans, D. Victor Reynolds, John Stuart Melvin (Cobb County District Attorney's Office), Marietta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1722

    The evidence supported defendants' convictions for murder after they beat a man and left him unconscious on a darkened roadway, where he was struck by a car and killed, but did not support defendants' convictions for criminal gang activity involving an affray, as there was no evidence that the victim was a willing participant in a fight.

  • Hood v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-04-11
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Nahmias
    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, Michael Alexander Oldham (Department of Law), Atlanta; Deborah D. Wellborn, Anna Green Cross, Sherry Boston (DeKalb County District Attorney's Office), Decatur, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1753

    The evidence supported defendant's convictions for felony murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of one person and the aggravated assault of another during a drug deal and the trial court did not plainly err in its jury charges.

  • Stroud v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-04-11
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Branch
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Christina Cribbs (Georgia Public Defender Council), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Benjamin Coker (District Attorney), Thomaston; Brittany Fallin (Upson County District Attorney's Office), Thomaston, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1679

    Trial Court Erred In Failing to Determine Whether Impoundment of Vehicle Following Traffic Violation Was Reasonably Necessary

  • The State v. Wright

    Publication Date: 2018-04-10
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge Doyle
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Margaret Heap (District Attorney), Savannah; Ian Heap (District Attorney's Office, Eastern Judicial Circuit), Savannah, for appellant.
    for defendant: Courtney Lerch (Lerch Law Firm), Savannah, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1780

    Defendant Failed to Show He Had Standing to Object to Search of Residence

  • Franklin v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-04-09
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Benham
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Jerilyn Lyshette Bell, Josh David Moore, Gerald P. Word (Georgia Capital Defenders), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Matthew Blackwell Crowder, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Emily Kathleen Richardson, Brian Keith Fortner, Sean Alexander Garrett (Douglas County District Attorney's Office), Douglasville, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1599

    The trial court properly concluded that it had no authority to determine prior to trial whether the aggravating circumstances State alleged would be sufficiently proved by the evidence to support the imposition of the death penalty.

  • Byrd v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-04-09
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Reese
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Kevin Anderson (Georgia Public Defender Council), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: James Chafin (Assistant District Attorney Western Judicial Circuit), Athens; Kenneth Mauldin (District Attorney), Athens, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1599

    Defense Counsel's Strategic Decision Not to Seek Jury Instruction on Lesser Included Offense Was Not Patently Unreasonable

  • Owens v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-04-09
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Nahmias
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: N/a
    for defendant: N/a
    Case Number: S17A1905

    The Georgia Supreme Court directed the Council of Superior Court Judges of Georgia to submit to the Court, no later than Sept. 17, 2018, a proposed Uniform Rule of Superior Court designed to address the issue of inordinate and unjustified delays between a defendant's trial and the direct appeal reaching the Court.

  • Greene v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-04-06
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Presiding Justice Melton
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Amy Lee Ihrig (Office of the Public Defender, Eastern Judicial Circuit), Savannah, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Meghan Hobbs Hill (Department of Law), Atlanta; Margaret Ellen Heap, Emily Catherine Puhala (Office of the District Attorney Eastern Judicial Circuit), Savannah, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1349

    The trial court did not reversibly err in admitting certain evidence in defendant's murder trial and the evidence supported his convictions.

  • Eller et al. v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-04-06
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    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, Aimee F. Sobhani, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Rosemary M. Greene, Sharon Moyer Fox, Paula Khristian Smith, Elizabeth Marian York (Cherokee Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Calhoun, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1549

    The evidence sufficiently supported a brother and sister's convictions for killing the sister's boyfriend and leaving his body in the back of his abandoned truck and although the trial court erred in allowing the alternate jurors to retire with the other jurors during deliberations, defendants failed to show that the error harmed them.