Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

McDaniel appealed the denial of numerous post-judgment motions he filed since 2009. He originally pled guilty to felony murder in 2002 and was sentenced to life in prison. The issues common to all these motions involve ineffective assistance of counsel, defective indictment, void sentence and conviction, involuntary plea, and general infringement by the trial court of his constitutional rights. In 2017, the trial court entered a two-paragraph order denying all outstanding motions filed between October 2009 and April 2017. Finding that the trial court properly denied McDaniel's motions, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "McDaniel v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Joshua McKelvin was convicted of murdering Marilyn Patterson and assaulting Myra Youngblood, Belinda Hines, and Zeddie Holley. On appeal, he argued the trial court erred by: (1) concluding that the defense of involuntary intoxication necessitated pretrial notice to the State; (2) by requiring him to provide the State with a copy of his pretrial mental evaluation; (3) by refusing to excuse a juror and declare a mistrial; (4) by admitting certain rap lyrics into evidence; and (5) by denying a mistrial after, he says, evidence placed his character at issue. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "McKelvin v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In 2014, Charles White was found guilty of three counts of rape, one count of statutory rape, ten counts of child molestation, three counts of aggravated sodomy, three counts of incest, and one count of enticing a child for indecent purposes in connection with incidents involving three victims, including S.M., who was a member of White’s extended family. During the course of being questioned about her own sexual misconduct, S.M. disclosed that she had been sexually abused by White since she was five years old and that White had done things to her that were similar to the things that she had done to her stepsisters. Prior to White’s trial, S.M. was adjudicated delinquent in juvenile court for having committed sexual batteries against her two stepsisters. White filed a pretrial motion in limine to have evidence of S.M.’s prior sexual acts excluded from his trial, arguing that the admission of the evidence would have been more prejudicial to White than probative of any issue at trial. The trial court denied White’s motion, and, without further objection from White’s counsel, the State briefly elicited testimony from S.M. regarding her prior sexual misconduct and her delinquency adjudication. Subsequent to his convictions, White moved for a new trial, arguing for the first time that the trial court erred by admitting S.M.'s trial testimony in violation of Georgia's Rape Shield Statute. The trial court denied the motion, and the Court of Appeals did too, reasoning that the Rape Shield Statute could not be invoked by a defendant to prevent a victim from offering evidence that was otherwise relevant to the case. The Georgia Supreme Court determined: (1) a defendant can invoke the Rape Shield Statute to prohibit the admission of evidence of a witness’s past sexual behavior offered by the State where such offered evidence is inadmissible pursuant to the terms of the Rape Shield Statute; (2) evidence of a complaining witness’s past sexual behavior is only admissible under the Rape Shield Statute if that evidence is relevant to the issue of consent; and (3) the trial court did improperly admit evidence of the complaining witness’s past sexual behavior in this case, but the admission of this evidence did not amount to plain error requiring reversal of White’s convictions. Accordingly, the Supreme Court ultimately affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeals, though on different grounds. View "White v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Following the habeas court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief, Richard Bishop filed an application for certificate of probable cause with the Georgia Supreme Court. The Court granted Bishop’s application to determine whether he was provided a full and fair hearing on his petition for writ of habeas corpus below. Shortly after shooting and killing his girlfriend and injuring her other boyfriend in 2009, then-76-year-old Bishop was arrested. Twelve days later, representing himself, Bishop pled guilty to malice murder and aggravated assault. He was sentenced to life in prison, plus twenty years to run concurrently. In 2014, then 81 years old, Bishop filed for habeas relief, asking for "assistance" from the court because he was unable to read (even with glasses), and had questions for the attorney to helped him at his plea hearing. The Warden filed an objection to the motion for assistance, arguing that there was no authority for the habeas court to provide Bishop with counsel. Bishop responded and clarified that he was not requesting that counsel be appointed, he simply needed someone to read for him. Though the habeas court acknowledged Bishop’s eye problems, it initially treated Bishop’s request as one for the appointment of counsel and found that Bishop was not entitled to any such appointment. The habeas court went on to express concern that Bishop’s written questions were conceived by an inmate other than Bishop, as the habeas court apparently recognized the handwriting. The Warden then objected to Bishop’s motion and his use of the pre-prepared questions, and the habeas court declined Bishop’s request to have someone read the proposed questions on Bishop’s behalf. The Georgia Supreme Court concluded that under the circumstances of this case, conceded by the Warden, the appointment of a reader for Bishop in light of his undisputed visual impairment, was necessary to satisfy his due process right to a full and fair hearing. The Court vacated the ruling of the habeas court and remanded this case for a new hearing. View "Bishop v. Hall" on Justia Law

Desmond Barnes was tried by jury and convicted of the 2011 murder of Jack Beasley, Jr. Barnes appealed the denial of his motion for a new trial, arguing he received ineffective assistance when his trial counsel: made an inflammatory statement during cross-examination of one of the State's witnesses; failed to secure a jury charge on mutual combat; and failed to move to dismiss the jury panel when a potential juror made a prejudicial statement. In addition, Barnes argued the trial court erred in not granting his objection to the court's instruction on malice murder. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Barnes' conviction. View "Barnes v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Ashley Strozier appealed her conviction for felony murder for the 2008 stabbing death of James Laster. Strozier argued the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. But after review of the evidence entered into the trial court record, the Georgia Supreme Court was satisfied the jury could have found she was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and the jury was authorized to disbelieve her version of events. View "Strozier v. Georgia" on Justia Law

James Parker was tried by jury and convicted of the 2014 murder of Alan Helmuth. Parker appealed, claiming that the trial court erred when it charged the jury and that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. The Georgia Supreme Court found no reversible error and affirmed. View "Parker v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Joseph Jordan was tried by jury and convicted of murder and other crimes in connection with the 2011 fatal shooting of Johnny Luckey. On appeal, Jordan argued he was entitled to a mistrial after the prosecuting attorney accused his lawyer of trying to deceive the jury, and he also claimed he was denied the effective assistance of counsel because his lawyer was absent from the courtroom during a critical stage of the trial. Finding no reversible error after review of the trial court record, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Jordan's conviction. View "Jordan v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Warden Kathleen Kennedy challenged a habeas court’s order setting aside Deborah Hines’s convictions and sentences for four counts of identity fraud. In its order, the habeas court determined that the trial court improperly participated in the plea process such that Hines’s plea was involuntary and violated due process. Having reviewed the record, the Georgia Supreme Court concluded the habeas court erred by placing the burden of proving that Hines’s guilty plea was voluntary, knowing, or intelligent on the Warden, the habeas respondent, and further erred by concluding that the trial court’s comments at the hearing rendered Hines’s plea involuntary. The Supreme Court therefore reversed the habeas court’s order. View "Kennedy v. Hines" on Justia Law

In June 2002, Appellant Steve McDonald was found guilty of malice murder, three counts of felony murder, armed robbery, false imprisonment, theft by taking, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. After his motion for new trial was denied, McDonald obtained new counsel and appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court, alleging numerous grounds for reversal. Finding no reversible error, the Court affirmed McDonald’s convictions, but vacated his sentence “to the extent that it ‘merged’ the felony murder, armed robbery, theft by taking, and false imprisonment verdicts into the malice murder verdict.” In 2017, the trial court conducted a resentencing hearing. McDonald presented no evidence during the hearing, and made no argument suggesting that the Supreme Court’s sentencing instructions were erroneous. During the hearing, the trial court merged the theft by taking count into the armed robbery count and further resentenced McDonald to: life imprisonment for armed robbery to run consecutive to malice murder, and ten years for false imprisonment to run concurrent to the armed robbery. McDonald appealed the new sentencing order, contending that the trial court erred “in issuing additional sentences because the order issued by the Supreme Court directing it to do so was in error.” Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "McDonald v. Georgia" on Justia Law