• Leeks v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-14
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Peterson
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Genevieve Holmes (Georgia Public Defender Council), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Meghan Hobbs Hill (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: S17A1585

    The trial court did not reversibly err in its jury charges in defendant's trial for malice murder and other charges stemming from the robbery and fatal shooting of a Fulton County convenience store clerk.

  • Wallace v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-12
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Peterson
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Maryann Faith Blend (Maryann F. Blend, Esq., PC.), Lawrenceville, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Scott Orion Teague (Department of Law), Atlanta; Daniel J. Porter, Lee Franklin Tittsworth (Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office), Lawrenceville, for appellee.

    Case Number: S17A1900

    Trial Court Did Not Err in Refusing to Reinstate Dismissed Juror

  • Calloway v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-05
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Peterson
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Jennifer Elaine Hildebrand (Hildebrand Law Office, PC.), LaFayette, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Scott Orion Teague (Department of Law), Atlanta; Herbert E. Franklin, Jr. (Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), LaFayette, for appellee.

    Case Number: S17A2019

    Federal Conviction for Attempt to Manufacture Meth Barred Subsequent Prosecution of State Law Felony Murder Predicated on Meth Crime

  • Burke v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-02-23
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Peterson
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Long Dai Vo, Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Michael Alexander Oldham, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Anna Green Cross, Lenny I. Krick, Sherry Boston, Helen Virginia Peters (DeKalb County District Attorney's Office), Decatur, for appellee.

    Case Number: S17A1495

    Because there was no evidence to support a finding of voluntary manslaughter, the trial court did not err in limiting the jurys consideration of voluntary manslaughter to a lesser offense of only malice murder, both in its oral instructions and on the verdict form, so that the jury had no option to consider the lesser offense in relation to the felony murder charge.

  • Harris v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-02-22
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence | Judges
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Peterson
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Eric C. Crawford (Crawford & Boyle, LLC), Monroe, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Aimee F. Sobhani (Department of Law), Atlanta; Layla Hinton Zon (Alcovy Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Covington; Walter Cliff Howard (Alcovy Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Monroe, for appellee.

    Case Number: S17A1938

    Defendant failed to show that the trial court reversibly erred in making a comment to a State's witness reminding him that he agreed to be credible, as defendant failed to establish that the error affected his substantial rights, given the strong evidence of guilt against him.

  • Simpson v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-12-29
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Peterson
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Tyler R. Conklin (Georgia Public Defender Council), 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, Zina B. Gumbs, Sherry Boston (Dekalb County District Attorney's Office), Decatur, for appellee.

    Case Number: S17A1352

    The evidence supported defendant's convictions for felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, feticide and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony after he shot his pregnant ex-girlfriend in the face and the trial court did not plainly err in its jury instruction.

  • Bozzie v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-12-22
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Peterson
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Micah Jay Gates (Office of the Public Defender for the Conasuaga Judicial Circuit), Dalton, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Scott Orion Teague (Department of Law), Atlanta; Susan Alexandra Beck, Dalton; Herbert McIntosh Poston, Jr. (Conasauga Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Dalton, for appellee.

    Case Number: S17A1539

    The trial court did not plainly err in admitting photographs of the victiman in-life photograph and numerous photographs of his dead bodyand certain alleged hearsay statements in defendant's trial for malice murder and other crimes after he intentionally hit the victim with his truck, as admission of one in-life photograph did not affect the outcome of the trial given the strength of the evidence, the photographs of the victim's dead body were admissible and the alleged hearsay was cumulative of other evidence.

  • Smith v. Northside Hospital, Inc. et al.

    Publication Date: 2017-11-30
    Practice Area: Government | Public Records
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Peterson
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Peter Crane Canfield, Brian Charles Lea (Jones Day), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Thurbert E. Baker, Bryan Eugene Bates, James Randolph Evans, Nathan L. Garroway (Dentons US LLP), Atlanta; Stephen Derek Bauer, Ian Kyle Byrnside, James C. Rawls (Baker Hostetler LLP), Atlanta, for appellee. David E. Hudson, James Brian Ellington (Hull Barrett, PC), Augusta; Steven Elliot Scheer (Scheer Montgomery & Call), Savannah; Sarah Renee Craig (Akerman LLP), Tampa, for amicus appellant. Lee Barrett Carter, Norman S. Fletcher (Brinson Askew Berry Seigler Richardson & Davis, LLP), Rome; Jonathan C. Peters (Peters & Monyak, LLP), Atlanta; Steven P. Gilliam, Roger Brent Hatcher, Jr. (Smith, Gilliam, Williams & Miles, P.A.), Gainesville; Kelly Jean Long Pridgen (Association County Commissioners of Georgia), Atlanta; G. Joseph Scheuer (Assistant General Counsel), Atlanta, for amicus appellee. Annette M. Cowart, Sarah Hawkins Warren, Russell David Willard, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta, for neutral amicus. Charles T. Huddleston, S. Wade Malone, Jessica Rutledge Watson (Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP), Atlanta; Jeremy Patrick Burnette, Sidney Summers Welch (Polsinelli, P.C.), Atlanta; Edward Charles Konieczny (Edward C. Konieczny LLC), Atlanta, for other party.

    Case Number: S16G1463

    The trial court and Court of Appeals applied the wrong legal standard in dismissing attorney's action to compel hospital to provide him with access to certain documents in response to his request under the Georgia Open Records Act.

  • Anglin v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-13
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Peterson
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Ashleigh Bartkus Merchant, John B. Merchant III (The Merchant Law Firm, PC.), for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Michael Scott Carlson, D. Victor Reynolds (Cobb County District Attorney's Office), Marietta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S17A1153

    The evidence supported defendant's convictions for felony murder and marijuana possession and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing State to introduce evidence of defendant's alleged membership in a gang, as there was some evidence presented at trial to show that the charged crimes were motivated by gang membership.

  • Olevik v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-07
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Peterson
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Lance Warren Tyler (Tyler Law Firm, LLC), Suwanee, for appellant.
    for defendant: Rosanna M. Szabo, Samuel Richard d'Entremont, Joelle M. Nazaire (Office of the Gwinnett County Solicitor General), Lawrenceville, for appellee.

    Case Number: S17A0738

    The Georgia Constitution's protection against compelled self-incrimination prohibits law enforcement from compelling a person suspected of DUI to blow their deep lung air into a breathalyzer.