• Bamberg v. The State

    Publication Date: 2020-03-27
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Boggs
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Rodney Samuel Zell, (Zell & Zell, P.C.), Savannah, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Mark Samuel Lindemann, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Andrew J. Ekonomou, Jacquelyn Lee Johnson, Jan Kennedy, Thomas Edwars Buscemi, (Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Brunswick, for appellee.

    Case Number: S19A1052

    Court affirms convictions of mother and son for murder of the son's ex-wife over their challenges to evidence and alleged trial court error

  • Davis v. The State

    Publication Date: 2020-03-26
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Appeals | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Coomer
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Ryan Locke, (Locke Law Firm, LLC), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Jacquelyn Johnson, Thomas Buscemi, (District Attorney's Office, Brunswick Judicial Circuit), Brunswick, for appellee.

    Case Number: A19A1844

    Extraordinary Motion For New Trial Not Proper Method For Addressing Constitutional Claims

  • Brock v. The State

    Publication Date: 2020-03-26
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Mercier
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Dustin Land, (Bryan and Land, LLC), Ashburn, for appellant.
    for defendant: Christian Brown, Bradford Rigby, (District Attorney's Office of the Cordele Judicial), Cordele, for appellee.

    Case Number: A19A2037

    Prosecution Had Duty to Ensure Trial Transcript Was Created and Preserved Following Felony Conviction of Non-Indigent Defendant

  • Womack v. The State

    Publication Date: 2020-03-20
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Gobeil
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Rodney Zell, (Zell & Zell, P.C.), Savannah, for appellant.
    for defendant: Robert Bickerstaff, Julia Slater, (DA's Office- Chattahoochee Jud. Cir.), Columbus, for appellee.

    Case Number: A19A1720

    No trial court error in admission of hearsay testimony when co-conspirator responsible for that testimony is later acquitted.

  • Hamlette v. The State

    Publication Date: 2020-03-13
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge Dillard
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Rodney Zell, (Zell & Zell, P.C.), Savannah, for appellant.
    for defendant: George Barnhill, Alexander Markowich, (Chief Assistant District Attorney), Waycross, for appellee.

    Case Number: A19A1839

    Court affirms voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault convictions against two brothers, bet remands case for resentencing due to merging error

  • The State v. Williams

    Publication Date: 2020-03-05
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Benham
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Shannon Glover Wallace, Zachary Holman Smith, Cliff Head, (Cherokee County District Attorney's Office), Canton, for appellant.
    for defendant: Bernard Stephen Brody, (Brody Law Firm), Atlanta, for appellee. Layla Hinton Zon, (Alcovy Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Covington, Robert Wright Smith, Jr., (Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia), Morrow, Samuel Richard d'Entremont, (Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office), Lawrenceville, for Amicus Appellant.

    Case Number: S19G0005

    Court reverses appellate court's dismissal of aggravated sexual battery conviction notwithstanding trial court's erroneous jury instruction.

  • Spikes v. The State

    Publication Date: 2020-02-07
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge Miller
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Jad Johnson, (Office of the Public Defender), Lafayette, appellant.
    for defendant: Christopher Arnt, Herbert Franklin, (Assistant District Attorney), LaFayette, for appellee.

    Case Number: A19A1706

    Court reverses rape and child molestation convictions because trial court improperly ordered total closure of trial during the victim's testimony

  • O'Brien v. The State

    Publication Date: 2020-02-05
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Rickman
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: J. Bright, (Coleman Talley LLP), Valdosta, for appellant.
    for defendant: David McLaughlin, (Georgia Attorney General), Atlanta, Richard Perryman, (District Attorney), Nashville, for appellee.

    Case Number: A19A1713

    Court remands case for determination of whether trial court ordered full restitution of amounts taken by defendant who pled guilty to fewer than all counts of taking

  • Dodson v. The State

    Publication Date: 2020-01-29
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Hodges
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Betsey Tate, (Georgia Public Defender Council - Appellate Division), Americus, appellant.
    for defendant: Ronald McNease, Timothy Eidson, (Pataula Judicial Circuit District Attorneys Office), Cuthbert, for appellee.

    Case Number: A19A1374

    Court affirms denial of defendant's motion to withdraw a guilty plea, finding no proof to support a claim of ineffective assistance of post-conviction counsel.

  • Wilkerson v. The State

    Publication Date: 2020-01-16
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Blackwell
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Christina Rupp Cribbs, Veronica M. O'Grady, (Georgia Public Defender Council - Appellate Division), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Thomas S. Bishop, (Patula Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Cuthbert, for appellee.

    Case Number: S19G0472

    In granting a defendant's motion for a new trial, the trial court did not improperly conflate standards for legal sufficiency of evidence with general grounds standards