• Madera v. The State

    Publication Date: 2024-04-02
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Bethel
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: David Russell Willingham, (Willingham Law Firm, P.C.), Marietta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Meghan Hobbs Hill, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Linda Jeanne Dunikoski, Leslie Anna Coots, (Cobb County District Attorney's Office), Marietta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S24A0148

    Court affirms malice murder conviction over defendant's claims of trial court evidentiary errors and ineffective assistance of trial counsel

  • Jennings v. The State

    Publication Date: 2024-04-02
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice LaGrua
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Howard W Anderson, III, (Truluck Thomason LLC), Greenville, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Faith Donnell Worley, (Department of Law), Atlanta, David Parks White, (Northern Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Hartwell, Jeffrey Lee, (Office of the Elbert County District Attorney), Elberton, for appellee.

    Case Number: S24A0095

    Court affirms murder conviction and rejects defendant's challenges to admission of other acts and hearsay evidence, and contentions of ineffective assistance of counsel

  • McKinney v. The State

    Publication Date: 2024-04-01
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Presiding Justice Peterson
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Michael S. Katz, (Attorney at Law), Decatur, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Elizabeth Rosenwasser, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Fani T. Willis, Kevin Christopher Armstrong, Alex Martin Bernick, Michael Scott Carlson, Bruce Patilloch Dutcher, Jayna Edwards, Adam Robert Abbate, (Fulton County District Attorney’s Office), Atlanta, Christopher David Sperry, (Clayton County District Attorney's Office), Jonesboro, for appellee; Christopher Mark DeNeve, (Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office), Lawrenceville, John Stuart Melvin, (Cobb County District Attorney’s Office), Marietta, Jeffrey T. Wennar, Tucson, for Amicus Appellee.

    Case Number: S23G0448

    Court affirms that admissibility of other acts evidence in cases involving the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act are subject to the Rule 403 balancing test rather than a nexus to gang activity

  • Sinkfield v. The State

    Publication Date: 2024-04-01
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Chief Justice Boggs
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: David Allen Hoort, Frances C. Kuo, (Georgia Public Defender Council), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Chelsea Sharonlyn-Clyde Harvey, Sarah Jane Thomas, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Fani T. Willis, Charles Anthony Jones, Jr., Kevin Christopher Armstrong, (Fulton County District Attorney’s Office), Atlanta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S23A1201

    Court affirms convictions for felony murder and other crimes over defendant's claims of insufficient evidence, improper denial of a motion to suppress evidence, and ineffective assistance of counsel

  • City of Winder v. Barrow County

    Publication Date: 2024-04-01
    Practice Area: Government
    Industry: State and Local Government
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice McMillian
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Andrew (Andy) J. Welch, III, Warren Michael Tillery, Brandon Filson Palmer, Grant E. McBride, John Elwin Stell, Jr., (Smith, Welch, Webb & White LLC), McDonough, Harold David Melton, (Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Angela Edwards Davis, Gregory Aaron Meyer, (Jarrard & Davis, LLP), Atlanta, for appellee; Rusi Chandrashkhar Patel, Ryan Robert Bowersox, Kevin H. Jeselnik, (Georgia Municipal Association), Atlanta, Quinton G. Washington, David N. Dreyer, (Washington Dreyer & Associates, LLC), Atlanta, Keith Robert Blackwell, (Alston & Bird LLP), Atlanta, for Amicus Appellant; Jeffrey Shelton Akins, (Bulloch County Board of Commissioners), Statesboro, Joy Lynn Edelberg, (Horne & Edelberg P.C.), Dahlonega, Patrick DeBorde Jaugstetter, Kenneth Edward Jarrard, (Jarrard & Davis, LLP), Cumming, Lawrence Allyn Stockton, Jr., (Stockton & Stockton, LLC), Clayton, Michael Peter Ludwiczak, David D. Gottlieb, (Walker County, Georgia Government), Lafayette, Nancy Ladson Rowan, (Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP), Atlanta, Walter Gus Elliott, II, (Elliott Blackburn PC), Valdosta, Larry Wayne Ramsey, Jr., G. Joseph Scheuer, (Association County Commissioners of Georgia), Atlanta, for Amicus Appellee; Ernest Ronald Bennett, Jr., (Carothers & Mitchell, LLC), Buford, Jody Charles Campbell, (Blum & Campbell, LLC), Peachtree Corners, Gregory David Jay, (Chandler, Britt, Jay & Beck, LLC), Buford, Robert Jackson Wilson, (Webb Tanner Powell Mertz & Wilson LLP), Lawrenceville, Kenneth James Lewis, (Lewis LAW), Winder, for other party.

    Case Number: S23G0341

    Court clarifies aspects of the Services Delivery Strategy Act in disputes between municipalities and a county, with specific focus on road maintenance and water utility fees for unincorporated areas

  • Palmer v. The State

    Publication Date: 2024-03-29
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Chief Justice Boggs
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Josh David Moore, Thea Adele Delage, (Office of the Georgia Capital Defender), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Stephany Julissa Luttrell, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Meghan Hobbs Hill, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Joshua Bradley Smith, Jared Tolton Williams, John M. Kraft, (Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Augusta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S23A1091

    Court affirms murder convictions over defendant's contentions of a violation of his speedy trial rights, loss of evidence, exclusion of other testimony and evidence, and restrictions on questioning

  • McCullum v. The State

    Publication Date: 2024-03-29
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Pinson
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Jerry W. Chappell, II, (Georgia Public Defender Council), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Matthew Blackwell Crowder, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Deborah D. Wellborn, Sherry Boston, Clifton Lance Cross, Shannon Elysia Hodder, (Dekalb County District Attorney's Office), Decatur, for appellee.

    Case Number: S23A0927

    Court affirms murder and rape convictions over defendant's challenges to sufficiency of the evidence and claims of procedural errors.

  • The State v. Ledbetter

    Publication Date: 2024-03-29
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Warren
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Michael Scott Carlson, Fani T. Willis, Kevin Christopher Armstrong, Mario Kladis, (Fulton County District Attorney's Office), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Brian Steel, (The Steel Law Firm, P.C.), Atlanta, Bruce Steven Harvey, (Law Offices of Bruce S. Harvey), Atlanta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S23A0900

    Court affirms suppression of evidence obtained via a violation of the attorney-client privilege, and affirms denial of motion to suppress cell phone evidence procured by an allegedly invalid warrant

  • Woods et al. v. Barnes et al.

    Publication Date: 2024-03-21
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Education Law
    Industry: Education
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Colvin
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Bryan Keith Webb, Russell David Willard, Susan Rose Haynes, Christopher M. Carr, Kristen Lea Settlemire, Stephen John Petrany, Ross Warren Bergethon, (Department of Law), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Craig Lewis Goodmark, (Goodmark Law Firm, LLC), Decatur, Gerald Richard Weber, Jr., (Law Offices of Gerald Weber, LLC), Atlanta, Philip A. Hostak, (National Education Association), Washington, for appellee; Brian C. Smith, Phillip L. Hartley, (Pereira, Kirby, Kinsinger & Nguyen, LLP), Gainesville, Lawrenceville, for Other Party.

    Case Number: S23A0821

    Court reverses lower court's decision on the constitutionality of a charter school's waiver from Fair Dismissal Act compliance

  • Kirkland v. The State

    Publication Date: 2024-03-21
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Ellington
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Jacob Dennis Rhein, (Law Offices of Jacob D. Rhein), Lawrenceville, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Christopher M. Carr, Eric Christopher Peters, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Fani T. Willis, Kevin Christopher Armstrong, Alex Martin Bernick, (Fulton County District Attorney’s Office), Atlanta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S23A0942

    Court affirms murder convictions in arson-related deaths over defendants' challenges to sufficiency and admission of evidence, alleged trial court errors, and contentions of ineffective assistance of counsel