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  • Henry v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-03
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Doyle
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Timothy Henry, Waycross, for appellant.
    for defendant: Samuel Altman (District Attorney Middle Judicial Circuit), Swainsboro; John Fitzner (Middle Judicial Circuit), Swainsboro, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A0999

    Although the trial court properly sentenced defendant as a recidivist to life in prison without the possibility of parole on his convictions for two counts of aggravated sodomy, the trial court erred in failing to impose a split sentence on his child molestation conviction; accordingly, the Court vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing.

  • Jones v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-03
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge McFadden
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Viveca Famber (Attorney at Law), Austell, for appellant.
    for defendant: Paul Howard (District Attorney), Atlanta; David Getachew-Smith (Fulton County District Attorney's Office), Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1053

    The evidence supported defendant's convictions for rape, aggravated child molestation, and incest for acts he committed against his niece, and the trial court was not required to conduct a competency hearing because defendant did not engage in any irrational behavior prior to the start of the trial, his demeanor did not exhibit incompetence, his attorney stated he was competent and there was no evidence of a prior medical opinion that his previous mental health diagnoses rendered him incompetent to stand trial.

  • Walker v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-02
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Justice Grant
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Kelvin D. Walker, Pelham, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Elizabeth A. Baker, Tracy Graham Lawson (Clayton County District Attorney's Office), Jonesboro, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1406

    The trial court did not err in denying defendant's motion for an out-of-time appeal because it was clear from the face of the record that his convictions and sentences were proper and because he had no constitutional right to the assistance of counsel in pursuing his motion for out-of-time appeal, there was no error in the trial court's denial of his motion seeking appointment of counsel.

  • Parks v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-02
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Justice Benham
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Genevieve Holmes (Georgia Public Defender Council), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Matthew Min-soo Youn, Christopher M. Carr (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: S17A1164

    The evidence supported defendant's convictions for murder and other crimes related to the retaliatory shooting death of the victim.

  • Stallings v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-01
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Mercier
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: N/a
    for defendant: N/a
    Case Number: A17A1116

    The trial court partially erred in denying defendant's motion for new trial following her convictions for one count of armed robbery and one count of aggravated assault because the trial court's determination as to the admissibility of defendant's statement to police was based at least partly on a material factual finding that was clearly erroneous.

  • McNeal v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-01
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Judges
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Justice Boggs
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Eric J. Taylor (Office of the Public Defender), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Aimee F. Sobhani, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Paul L. Howard Jr., Kevin Christopher Armstrong, Lyndsey Hurst Rudder (Fulton County District Attorney's Office), Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1290

    The evidence supported defendant's convictions for malice murder and related crimes and the trial court did not err in refusing to give defendant's requested charge on accident, as the evidence did not support such a charge.

  • Johnson v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-31
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Justice Nahmias
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Kevin Kwashnak (Public Defender's Office), Americus, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Michael Alexander Oldham (Department of Law), Atlanta; Plez Higdon Hardin, Lewis Ramon Lamb (Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Americus, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1105

    The trial court erred in denying defendant's motion for new trial following his convictions for murder and related crimes, because defendant was deprived of an adequate trial transcript and he was thus denied his right to appeal his convictions.

  • Carter v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-31
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Justice Hunstein
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: John Clayton Culp (Waycross Circuit Public Defender), Waycross, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Scott Orion Teague (Department of Law), Atlanta; George Elemuel Barnhill, Ian Louis Sansot (Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Douglas, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1126

    In defendant's trial for malice murder and other crimes, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing State to admit into evidence a recorded conversation in which defendant and a third party discussed the crimes at issue and the evidence supported defendant's convictions.

  • Freeman v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-31
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Justice Melton
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Justin Freeman, Rockmart, for appellant.
    for defendant: Stephanie D. Woodard, Daniel Sanmiguel (Hall County Solicitor General's Office), Gainesville; Paula Khristian Smith, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1040

    The Supreme Court reversed defendant's conviction for one count of disorderly conduct pursuant to O.C.G.A. 16-11-39 subsection (a) (1) because defendant's act of raising his middle finger to a pastor during a church service was a constitutionally protected act that did not place the pastor in reasonable fear for his safety.

  • Faust v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-10-31
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Chief Justice Hines
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Stanley W. Schoolcraft III (Office of the Public Defender), McDonough, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Jason Matthew Rea, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Paul L. Howard Jr., Kevin Christopher Armstrong, Lyndsey Hurst Rudder (Fulton County District Attorney's Office), Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1177

    The evidence supported defendant's convictions for felony murder while in the commission of an aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony after he shot and killed a man who was selling shoes out of his car.