Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Jovan Thompson was found guilty by jury of felony murder and related crimes in connection with the shooting death of his pregnant girlfriend, Sarhonica Thrasher. Thompson appealed, contending the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support the verdict and that the trial court made evidentiary and charging errors. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Thompson v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Charles Richardson was convicted of murder and associated offenses arising out of the 2008 shooting death of Kyle Jennings. Appellant challenged his convictions on grounds that he received ineffective assistance of counsel; finding no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Richardson v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Christian de la Hernandez was convicted of malice murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, kidnapping with bodily injury, and rape in connection with the shooting death of Jacqueline Ramon. On appeal, Hernandez contended only that venue did not properly lie in DeKalb County. The record reflected that although there was undisputed evidence establishing that the events leading up to Ramon’s murder occurred in DeKalb County, witness B.M. was not certain what county she and Ramon were being driven in when Hernandez shot Ramon. After the incident, B.M. returned to the area with an investigator from the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, who drove B.M. along the route she had been driven on the night of Ramon’s murder. At one point, B.M. pointed the investigator in the direction of Interstate 75 South where it splits from I-85 South and said that she thought she remembered passing Exit 227 near the time of the shooting. However, Exit 227 could only be accessed by cars traveling northbound on I-75, and when B.M. and the investigator drove to it, B.M. was unable to say if the shooting occurred there. She further stated that she “remembered some numbers 226 or 228, that’s all I remembered.” Then at trial, when asked where they were when Hernandez shot Ramon, B.M. testified that: “I only knew that we were in 85 South. I didn’t know where we were at all.” The Georgia Supreme Court concluded that because it was not readily determinable where Hernandez shot and killed Ramon, OCGA 17-2-2(c) applied, and the State properly established venue in DaKalb County, where Ramon's body was found. Therefore, venue was proper in DeKalb County. View "de la Hernandez v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Rocquel Chavers was convicted of malice murder, violation of the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with the shooting death of Jasperin Armstrong. On appeal, Chavers argued the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction of the Street Gang Act, the trial court erred in allowing certain testimony over a hearsay objection, and that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to object to certain other testimony as hearsay. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Chavers v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In 2012, Richard Ringold pled guilty to four counts of murder, one count of aggravated assault, and five counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, arising out of the shooting deaths of four victims and the wounding of a fifth. Ringold was sentenced to concurrent terms of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for each murder and terms of years on the other convictions. Approximately one month later, he moved to withdraw his plea, and his motion was denied after a hearing. Nearly four years later, he moved to file an out-of-time appeal, which the trial court denied summarily and without holding a hearing. Proceeding pro se, he appealed that denial, asserting that both the trial court and his motion-to-withdraw counsel erred by failing to advise him of his right to appeal the denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea. The Georgia Supreme Court vacated the trial court’s order denying Ringold’s motion for an out-of-time appeal and remand this case for the trial court to determine whether Ringold’s motion-to-withdraw counsel was ineffective in failing to file a timely notice of appeal, consistent with the test in Roe v. Flores-Ortega, 528 U. S. 470 (2000). If Ringold could show his counsel was deficient in failing to file a timely notice of appeal and that, but for counsel’s deficiency, he would have appealed, he was entitled to an out-of-time appeal. View "Ringold v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Trevis Worthen was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Tanieshia Evans. On appeal, he argued the trial court improperly purported to merge his felony murder counts into his malice murder conviction, when they actually were vacated by operation of law. The Georgia Supreme Court concluded this was true, but the error was harmless. Furthermore, Worthen argued the State failed to prove venue for most of the crimes. That, the Supreme Court concluded, was not true – particularly because the Court decided to overrule Division 3 of Jones v. Georgia, 537 SE2d 80 (2000), and to restore the authority of juries to make reasonable inferences regarding whether a location shown to be in a county is close enough to a crime scene to find that the crime was committed in the same county. View "Worthen v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Skyy Raven Marie Mims was convicted of malice murder and other crimes related to the stabbing death of Dahyabhai Chaudhari during an armed robbery and of theft by bringing a stolen vehicle into the state. Following an earlier remand by the Georgia Supreme Court, Mims appealed, arguing the evidence was insufficient to sustain her theft conviction, her trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance, and her due process rights were violated when the trial court denied her request to be present at the motion for new trial hearing on remand in order to support her ineffectiveness claims. The Supreme Court reversed Mims’s theft conviction because trial counsel was ineffective for failing to move to sever this count from the murder-related offenses. All of the remaining ineffectiveness claims against trial counsel failed, and because these claims fail for reasons independent of her absence at the hearing, her due process rights were not violated. View "Mims v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Jermario Solomon was tried by jury and convicted of murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with the fatal shooting of Curtis Pinkney. Solomon appealed, contending that the evidence was legally insufficient to sustain his convictions, that the trial court abused its discretion when it denied his motion for severance, and that the trial court erred when it charged the jury. After review of the trial court record, the Georgia Supreme Court found no reversible error, and affirmed Solomon's conviction. View "Solomon v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Juan Cortez Mondragon was tried by jury and convicted of the murder of Carlos Perez and an aggravated assault upon Heriberto Soto. Mondragon appealed, claiming that the trial court erred when it admitted evidence of Perez’s good character and when it excluded evidence of Perez’s blood alcohol content at the time he was killed. The Georgia Supreme Court found no reversible error and affirmed. View "Mondragon v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In August 2014, Nicholas Hart was charged by the City of Sandy Springs with two counts of misdemeanor disorderly conduct under Section 38-54 of the city’s municipal code. Hart filed a demand for jury trial with the Sandy Springs Municipal Court, which Judge Joseph Burford denied. In September 2014, following a bench trial, Judge Burford found Hart guilty and sentenced him to six months of probation on each count to run consecutively, a $1,000 fine on each count, and 30 days in jail to be served on 15 consecutive weekends. Hart appealed by filing a petition for certiorari in superior court, but that petition was dismissed because Hart failed to properly serve appellees and to file the record. Hart later filed a habeas petition against Judge Burford, Mayor Rusty Paul, and other Sandy Springs officials, alleging Judge Burford had improperly denied him his right to a jury trial and that his appellate counsel had provided ineffective assistance. The habeas court denied relief, and Hart filed this appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court. The Supreme Court found Hard failed to demonstrate on record any adverse collateral consequence from his misdemeanor conviction, and dismissed his appeal as moot. View "Hart v. Burford" on Justia Law