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  • Harris v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-11
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Mercier
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Tobe Karrh (Office of the Public Defender), Swainsboro, for appellant.
    for defendant: Samuel Altman (District Attorney), Swainsboro; Tony May (Middle Judicial Circuit, Assistant District Attorney), Swainsboro, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A0761

    Although the evidence supported defendant's convictions for aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the trial court erred in failing to charge the jury on the lesser included offense of reckless conduct as an alternative to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; accordingly, the Court reversed the aggravated assault conviction and remanded for a new trial.

  • Solomon v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-11
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Branch
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: David Daniell (Daniell Law Firm, LLC), Warner Robins, for appellant.
    for defendant: Marie Banks (Houston County District Attorney), Perry; George Hartwig (District Attorney Houston Judicial Circuit), Perry, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A0760

    Although the evidence supported defendant's conviction for burglary, the trial court erred when it sentenced him under the current rather than the former version of the burglary statute, O.C.G.A. 16-7-1, and the Court, therefore, vacated his conviction and remanded for entry of conviction and resentencing under the proper statute.

  • Whatley v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-10
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Reese
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Genevieve Holmes (Appellate Division – GPDC), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Joshua Morrison (Fulton County DA's Office), Atlanta; Paul Howard (District Attorney), Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A0940

    The evidence supported defendant's convictions for kidnapping, aggravated assault, two counts of robbery and two counts of false imprisonment and defendant failed to prove his several ineffective assistance of counsel claims.

  • Garner v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-10
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge McMillian
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Matthew Leipold (Northeastern Judicial Circuit Public Defender), Gainesville, for appellant.
    for defendant: Jennifer Bagwell (Assistant District Attorney), Gainesville; Lee Darragh (District Attorney, NEJC of GA Northeastern Judicial Circuit), Gainesville, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1170

    The trial court did not violate defendant's constitutional rights by requiring him to wear a shock belt during the course of his trial for aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime or in allowing an extra metal detector to be placed outside the entrance of the courtroom.

  • Wilson v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-09
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Justice Grant
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Jessica Irene Benjamin (Western Judicial Circuit Public Defenders Office), Athens, for appellant.
    for defendant: Brian Vance Patterson, James V. Chafin, Kenneth W. Mauldin (Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Athens; Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Ashleigh Dene Headrick, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A0950

    Although the evidence supported defendant's convictions, the Court vacated defendant's sentence and remanded for resentencing based on merger errors.

  • Daniels v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-09
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Chief Justice Hines
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Gregory Davis Smith (Conger & Smith, LCC), Bainbridge, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Meghan Hobbs Hill (Department of Law), Atlanta; April Marie Hancock (Colquitt County District Attorney's Office), Moultrie; Bradfield M. Shealy (Southern Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Valdosta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A0931

    The evidence supported defendants' convictions for felony murder, violations of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act and other crimes.

  • Taylor v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-06
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Bethel
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Donna Bearden, Calhoun, for appellant.
    for defendant: Erle Newton (Office of the District Attorney), Cartersville, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1043

    The trial court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained from a search of his vehicle during a traffic stop because the officer who stopped defendant articulated a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity under the totality of circumstances sufficient to allow him to detain defendant for further investigation.

  • Arnold v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-06
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Justice Blackwell
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Michael Wayne Tarleton (Georgia Public Defender Council), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Ashleigh Dene Headrick, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Lenny I. Krick, Sherry Boston, Anna Green Cross (DeKalb County District Attorney's Office), Decatur; Harry Steven Ruth (Office of the District Attorney), Decatur, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1041

    Although defendant argued on appeal that State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was not justified in shooting the victim, questions about the existence of justification were for the jury to decide, and the evidence supported the jury's determination that State met its burden.

  • Neely v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-06
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Justice Boggs
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Matthew Benjamin Bennett (Bennett & Connell, LLC), Adel, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Meghan Hobbs Hill (Department of Law), Atlanta; J. David Miller, Jessica Whittington Clark, Michelle Thomas Harrison (Southern Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Valdosta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1145

    The evidence supported defendant's convictions for malice murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony and he failed to prove that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in failing to call a number of witnesses.

  • White v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-05
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Justice Boggs
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Cynthia White, Alto, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Daniel J. Porter, Lee Franklin Tittsworth (Gwinnett Circuit District Attorney's Office), Lawrenceville, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A0874

    The trial court properly denied appellant's pro se "Petition for Resentencing Under the First Offenders Act" following her 1992 convictions for felony murder and cruelty to children in the death of her 3-year-old son, because the prosecuting attorney did not consent to the filing of the petition as required under O.C.G.A. 42-8-66.