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  • Veal v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-09
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Benham
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Stephen Michael Reba (The Law Office of Stephen M. Reba, LLC), Decatur, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Matthew Min-soo Youn, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Joshua Daniel Morrison, Paul L. Howard, Jr., Lyndsey Hurst Rudder (Fulton County District Attorney's Office), Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1758

    U.S. Supreme Court Miller and Montgomery Opinions Not Applicable to Juvenile Criminal Cases Not Involving Actual LWOP Sentences

  • Goodrum v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-09
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Grant
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Matthew K. Winchester (Law Offices of Matthew K. Winchester), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Meghan Hobbs Hill (Department of Law), Atlanta; Monique Lynn Kirby, Edward Andrew Case, III (Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), LaGrange; Peter J. Skandalakis (Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia), Morrow, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1748

    Defendant Had No Constitutional Right to Be Present When Attorneys Met in Chambers With Judge to Discuss Juror's Qualification

  • Walton v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-09
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Presiding Justice Melton
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Andrew Santos Fleischman (Ross & Pines, LLC), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Elizabeth Haase Brock (Department of Law), Atlanta; Anna Green Cross, Lenny I. Krick, Sherry Boston (DeKalb County District Attorney's Office), Decatur, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1756

    Defendant Not Prejudiced by Trial Counsel's Failure to Review Police Report Describing Violent Altercation Prior to Events Leading to Homicide

  • Jones v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-08
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Blackwell
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Ronald Richard Parker (Georgia Public Defender Standards Council), Bainbridge; Katherine Lynn Dodd (Southwest Georgia Conflict Division-GPDC), Americus, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Matthew David O'Brien (Department of Law), Atlanta; Gregory W. Edwards, Kathryn O. Fallin (Dougherty County District Attorney's Office), Albany, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1526

    Even assuming that defense counsel was deficient in opening the door for the prosecution to elicit otherwise inadmissible evidence of defendant's bad character, defendant could not show that the allegedly deficient performance prejudiced him, in light of the strong evidence of his guilt, and thus could not prove his ineffective assistance of counsel claim in connection with his convictions for felony murder and armed robbery.

  • Scott v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-08
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge Barnes
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Christopher Ramig (Assistant Public Defender), Fayetteville, for appellant.
    for defendant: Benjamin Coker (District Attorney), Thomaston; Christy Jindra (Attorney at Law Griffin Circuit District Attorney Office), Fayetteville; Brittany Fallin (Upson County District Attorney's Office), Thomaston, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1384

    Although the evidence supported defendant's conviction for criminal attempt to commit theft by taking after his employer accused him of falsifying an invoice, the trial court erred in entering a felony sentence on that conviction because there was insufficient evidence of a fiduciary relationship between defendant and his employer.

  • McClain v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-08
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Blackwell
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Teresa Lynn Doepke (Alcovy Judicial Circuit Public Defender), Covington; Anthony Scott Carter (Alcovy Judicial Circuit Public Defender), Monroe, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Elizabeth Haase Brock, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Layla Hinton Zon, Binford Griffin Bramblett, Randal Matthew McGinley (Alcovy Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Covington, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1634

    Evidence Supported Jury's Conclusion Victim Died As Result of Numerous Gunshots Fired by Defendant

  • Miller v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-08
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Benham
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Eric J Taylor (Office of the Public Defender), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Paul L. Howard, Jr., Kevin Christopher Armstrong, Lyndsey Hurst Rudder, Marc A. Mallon (Fulton County District Attorney's Office), Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1578

    The jury was authorized to find that the evidence, although circumstantial, was sufficient to exclude every other reasonable hypothesis save that of guilt in defendant's trial for malice murder and concealing the death of another in connection with the death of her ex-girlfriend.

  • Brown v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-07
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Hunstein
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: David Glenn Williams, Jr. (Western Judicial Circuit Public Defender's Office), Athens, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Scott Orion Teague (Department of Law), Atlanta; David T. Lock, Savannah; Brian Vance Patterson (Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Athens, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1582

    The Court reversed defendant's convictions for murder and related offenses because the trial court committed reversible error in admitting certain other acts evidence.

  • Franklin v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-07
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Benham
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Jerilyn Lyshette Bell, Josh David Moore, Gerald P. Word (Georgia Capital Defenders), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Matthew Blackwell Crowder, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Emily Kathleen Richardson, Brian Keith Fortner, Sean Alexander Garrett (Douglas County District Attorney's Office), Douglasville, for appellee.
    Case Number: S17A1599

    The trial court properly concluded that it had no authority to determine prior to trial whether the aggravating circumstances State alleged would be sufficiently proved by the evidence to support the imposition of the death penalty.

  • Pefinis v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-06
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge Barnes
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Michael Clark (Andy Clark Law, LLC), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Brian Fortner (Douglas County District Attorney), Douglasville; Ryan Leonard (Assistant District Attorney), Douglasville; Sean Garrett (Douglas County District Attorney's Office), Douglasville, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1869

    The evidence supported defendant's convictions for one count of serious injury by vehicle and reckless driving after he caused an automobile collision and the trial court properly denied his motion for new trial based on his ineffective assistance of counsel claim.