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  • Ellis v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-21
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge McFadden
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Monte Davis (Attorney at Law), Roswell, for appellant.
    for defendant: Emily Johnson (District Attorney's Office Rome Judicial Circuit), Rome; Leigh Patterson (District Attorney), Rome, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A0659

    The trial court erred in key factual findings and failed to balance the relevant legal factors when it denied defendant's plea in bar on constitutional speedy trial grounds.

  • Carpenter v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-20
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Rickman
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: August Siemon (Attorney at Law), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Marie Banks (Houston County District Attorney), Perry; George Hartwig (District Attorney Houston Judicial Circuit), Perry, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1354

    Defendant failed to prove his ineffective assistance of counsel claim based on trial counsel's failure to object to the victim's in-court identification, because any objection would have been meritless and failure to raise a meritless objection does not constitute deficient performance; however, the trial court erred in failing to merge certain counts for sentencing.

  • Carter v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-20
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Judges
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Branch
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Michael Tarleton (The Appellate Division – GPDC), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Robert James (District Attorney), Decatur; Sherry Boston (DeKalb County District Attorney), Decatur; Gerald Mason (DeKalb County District Attorney's Office), Decatur, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A0860

    The trial court did not violate the former version of O.C.G.A. 17-8-57 when it reminded a witness during her direct examination that she was in the room when a co-defendant uttered a threat; accordingly, the Court affirmed defendant's convictions for aggravated assault and other crimes.

  • In The Interest of E. B., a child

    Publication Date: 2017-11-17
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge McFadden
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Jared Roberts (Attorney at Law), Douglas, for appellant.
    for defendant: George Barnhill (District Attorney), Waycross; Ian Sansot (District Attorney's Office, Waycross Judicial Circuit), Douglas, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A0784

    The evidence was insufficient to support the juvenile's adjudications of delinquency for burglary and shoplifting but there was sufficient evidence to support his adjudication of delinquency for tampering with the operation of an electronic monitoring device.

  • Whitmire v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-16
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge Barnes
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Howard Anderson (Law Office of Howard W. Anderson, III, LLC), Pendleton, for appellant.
    for defendant: George Christian (District Attorney's Office), Clayton; James Staples (Assistant District Attorney), Clarksville, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A0951

    The Court vacated the denial of defendant's motion for new trial following his armed robbery conviction in connection with a bank hold-up because the trial judge failed to exercise discretion to sit as a thirteenth juror with respect to the general grounds raised.

  • Hood v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-15
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Mercier
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: James Hood, Ludowici, for appellant.
    for defendant: Oliver Browning (District Attorney), Cedartown; Ryan Remsen (Attorney at Law), Rome, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1147

    The trial court erred in denying defendant's second motion for out-of-time appeal, to the extent it held that defendant was not entitled to file a direct appeal from the denial of his motion to vacate void sentence, because defendant raised a colorable claim that his sentence was void and, thus, he was entitled to file a direct appeal from the denial of his motion to vacate void sentence.

  • McAllister v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-15
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Presiding Judge McFadden
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Gerard Kleinrock (Attorney at Law), Decatur, for appellant.
    for defendant: Robert James (District Attorney), Decatur; Deborah Wellborn (Assistant District Attorney), Decatur, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A1026

    The evidence supported defendant's convictions for aggravated stalking and criminal trespass after he broke into his former girlfriend's home, kissed her and crawled into her bed.

  • The State v. Crews

    Publication Date: 2017-11-14
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Court of Appeals
    Judge: Judge Mercier
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: George Barnhill (District Attorney), Waycross; Michelle McIntire (Office of District Attorney - Waycross Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney), Waycross, for appellant.
    for defendant: James McGee (McGee and McGee), Waycross, for appellee.
    Case Number: A17A0672

    The trial court erred in granting defendant's motion for new trial based on its finding that trial counsel was ineffective and that defendant's right to a fair trial was violated due to his legs being shackled during the trial.

  • 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.

  • Fazio v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-10
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Blackwell
    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: S17A1020

    The Supreme Court affirmed defendant's DUI convictions, holding that the implied consent notice statute does not violate the constitutional prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures and is not unconstitutionally misleading or coercive on its face in violation of due process.