• Stokes v. State

    Publication Date: 2011-09-23
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Stanley W. Schoolcraft III, Public Defender, Jonesboro, for appellant.
    for defendant: Tracy G. Lawson, District Attorney, Billy J. Dixon, Assistant District Attorney, Jonesboro, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Sheila E. Gallow, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S11A1011

    The defendant's admission to a number of actions consistent with the fatal injuries his 4-month-old infant suffered supported his convictions for murder, cruelty to children and aggravated ba

  • Johnson v. State

    Publication Date: 2011-09-23
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Ashleigh B. Merchant The Merchant Law Firm PC, Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Paul L. Howard Jr., District Attorney, Paige R. Whitaker, Deputy District Attorney, Stephany J. Luttrell, Assistant District Attorney, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Mary Beth Westmoreland, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Sheila E. Gallow, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S11A0721

    The defendant's arguments that the collision resulting from a high-speed chase in a stolen car was an accident rather than an aggravated assault and that theft by receiving a stolen vehicle cannot s

  • Wilcox v. Fenn

    Publication Date: 2011-09-23
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Gary Gerrard, Lexington, and Regina M. Quick, Athens, for appellant.
    for defendant: . Theodore Freeman, Sun S. Choy and Jacob E. Daly Freeman Mathis & Gary LLP, Atlanta, for appellees.

    Case Number: S11A1102

    O.C.G.A. § 36-92-3-providing immunity to any local government officer or employee who commits a tort involving the use of a covered motor vehicle while in the performance of his or her official duti

  • O'Brien v. Bruscato

    Publication Date: 2011-09-23
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Laura C. Marshall and Milton B. Satcher III Owen, Gleaton, Egan, Jones & Sweeney LLP, Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: William G. Quinn III Willis & Quinn PC and Jerry D. McCumber, Decatur, for appellee.

    Case Number: S11G0660

    Under the circumstances, public policy did not prevent the plaintiff from suing his psychiatrist over allegedly deficient psychiatric treatment, which resulted in the plaintiff's brutal murder of hi

  • City of Statesboro v. Dabbs

    Publication Date: 2011-09-23
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Michael L. Graves Jr., Statesboro, for the city of Statesboro. Daniel B. Snipes and Wesley C. Taulbee Franklin Taulbee Rushing Snipes & Marsh, Statesboro, for Dabbs.
    for defendant:

    Case Number: S11A0760; S11X0761

    The plaintiffs were not required to provide ante litem notice of their intent to seek attorneys' fees in their action alleging Open Records Act violations, and the plain text of the Act authorized t

  • Stripling v. State

    Publication Date: 2011-08-26
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: David T. Wooten, George P. Word, Georgia Capital Defender, Atlanta, Mitchell D. Raup, David M. Gossett and Carl J. Summers Mayer Brown LLP, Washington, D.C., for appellant.
    for defendant: James D. McDade, District Attorney, Jeffrey L. Ballew, James A. Dooley and W. Thomas Weathers III, Assistant District Attorneys, Douglasville, for appellee. Amicus Appellee: Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Mary Beth Westmoreland, Deputy Attorney General, Patricia B. A. Burton, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Sabrina D. Graham, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta.

    Case Number: S11A0474

    The trial court erred in ruling that it was unconstitutional to place the burden on defendants to prove their mental retardation beyond a reasonable

  • Campbell v. Landings Ass'n Inc.

    Publication Date: 2011-07-22
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Matthew M. Bush Duffy & Feemster LLC, Savannah, for appellant.
    for defendant: Thomas J. Mahoney Jr. and Thomas J. Mahoney III Ranitz, Mahoney, Mahoney & Pace PC, Savannah, for appellee.

    Case Number: S11A0559

    The trial court properly granted summary judgment to homeowners' association in its action against the defendants involving ownership of a strip of land abutting the defendants' residential pro

  • Price v. State

    Publication Date: 2011-07-15
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Adam S. Levin, Gainesville, for appellant.
    for defendant: Lee Darragh, District Attorney, and Lindsay H. Burton, Assistant District Attorney, Gainesville, for appellee.

    Case Number: S10G1354

    The trial court erred in failing to give an instruction on mistake of fact, which the evidence autho

  • Cantera v. State

    Publication Date: 2011-07-08
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: G. G. Joseph Kunes Jr., Tifton, for appellant. J. David Miller, District Attorney, and Bradfield M. Shealy, Assistant District Attorney, Valdosta, for appellee.
    for defendant:

    Case Number: S10G1633

    Where no question remained as to the perpetrator's intent in shooting the victim, the trial court did not err in failing to instruct the jury on simple assault in connection with its charge on aggra

  • Howard v. State

    Publication Date: 2011-05-27
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Michael Howard, Sparta, proceeded pro se. James D. McDade, District Attorney, James A. Dooley, Assistant District Attorney, Douglasville, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, and Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    for defendant:

    Case Number: S11A0393

    Defendant's motion in arrest of judgment was untimely as defendant conceded that he filed it several years after the term of court in which he was conv