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  • Diaz v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-13
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Immigration Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge McFadden
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Stephen Reba (Attorney at Law), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Andrea Alabi (Assistant District Attorney), Lawrenceville; Daniel Porter (District Attorney Gwinnett Justice & Administrative Center), Lawrenceville, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1333

    Defendant could not show that he was prejudiced by his attorney's alleged deficiency in failing to properly inform him of the immigration consequences of pleading guilty to possession of a controlled substance and he, therefore, could not prove his ineffective assistance of counsel claim and the trial court properly denied his motion to withdraw his guilty plea.

  • Green v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-12
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge Ellington
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Thomas Hyman (Oconee Circuit Public Defenders Office), Cordele, for appellant.
    for defendant: Lauren Shurling (Chief Assistant District Attorney Oconee Judicial Circuit), Eastman; Timothy Vaughn (District Attorney Oconee Judicial Circuit), Eastman, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1017

    The evidence was sufficient to support defendant's convictions for four counts of theft by taking after he endorsed checks and misrepresented that the checks were actually payable to him and then deposited the checks into his bank account.

  • Simmons v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-12
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Bethel
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: L. Jones (Eastern Circuit Public Defender's Office), Savannah; Jonathan Lockwood (Office of the Public Defender Brunswick Judicial Circuit), Jesup, for appellant.
    for defendant: George Barnhill (District Attorney District Attorney's Office); Michelle McIntire (Office of District Attorney - Waycross Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney), Waycross, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A0712

    The evidence supported defendant's conviction for aggravated assault and criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, but the trial court erred in failing to merge the two convictions for sentencing purposes.

  • Turner v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-12
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge Barnes
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Lawrence Daniel (Attorney at Law), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Brian Fortner (Douglas County District Attorney), Douglasville; David Emadi (Douglas County District Attorney's Office), Douglasville, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1045

    The evidence supported defendant's conviction for first-degree homicide by vehicle after she "blacked out" and ran over the victim during an argument with the father of her children and his girlfriend.

  • Atkins v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-11
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Bethel
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Ruth McMullin (McMullin LLC), Stone Mountain, for appellant.
    for defendant: Paul Howard (District Attorney), Atlanta; Arthur Walton (Assistant District Attorney), Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1486

    The trial court applied the wrong standard when reviewing appellant's motion for new trial based on general grounds, and the Court thus vacated the denial of her motion for a new trial following her convictions for aggravated child molestation and child molestation.

  • 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.