Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Appellant Steven Eller was found guilty of malice murder and other crimes, and his sister, Appellant Tammy Murphy, was found guilty of felony murder and other crimes, all in connection with the March 2013 shooting death of Murphy’s boyfriend, Danny Gravley. Appellants appealed, arguing the evidence was insufficient to sustain Murphy’s felony murder and aggravated assault convictions, that the trial court committed reversible error by allowing the alternate jurors to remain in the jury room during deliberations, and that Appellants’ trial counsel each rendered ineffective assistance for several reasons. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Eller v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Reno Byron was found guilty of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Virgil White. He claimed on appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court that the evidence presented at his trial was insufficient to support the jury’s guilty verdicts and that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance. The Court found no merit to either of those claims and affirmed Bryon's convictions. View "Byron v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Marquis Tanner was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Abel Carmona, Jr. On appeal, he argued the evidence presented at his trial was insufficient to support his murder conviction; that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to conflict-free counsel; and that the trial court erred by admitting into evidence a comment made by a detective during Appellant’s interrogation. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed his convictions. View "Tanner v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Willie Morris was found guilty of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the July 2004 shooting death of Fabian Miller. Morris appealed, arguing to the Georgia Supreme Court there were evidentiary and jury instruction errors, ineffectiveness of his trial counsel for several reasons, and that the trial court failed to properly exercise its discretion as the thirteenth juror in denying his motion for a new trial. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Morris v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Emmanuel Perez was tried before a jury and found guilty of malice murder and other crimes in the death of Armando Montez. Perez suspected that his wife was having a sexual relationship with the victim, who was also married. Perez’s wife met the victim while working at a club as a dancer. The victim worked at a tire shop, and Perez’s wife would frequently visit the shop. About a month before the shooting, Perez had in his cell phone the Spanish phrase for “the nightmare” as the name stored for his wife’s phone number, and the Spanish phrase for “the dead man” as the name stored for the victim’s phone number. A week or two prior to the shooting, Perez called the victim and confronted him with his suspicions. Perez and the victim then argued for several minutes before Perez shot the victim in the side of his head. After the victim fell to the ground, Perez continued to shoot the victim until his gun jammed. He then cleared the jam and fired an entire magazine into the victim’s body. In addition to the gunshot to the head, the victim suffered nine gunshot wounds to his neck and back, and died from his injuries. On appeal, Perez argued the trial court erred in admitting a hearsay statement from the deceased victim. Finding no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Perez v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Eddieard Greene was convicted by jury of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and various other offenses in connection with the shooting deaths of Freddie Jackson and Laura Dowdy and the shooting of Kendra Hays. On appeal, Greene argued the trial court erred in allowing certain statements of one of the deceased victims, Dowdy, to be admitted into evidence at trial under the forfeiture-by-wrongdoing exception to the rule against hearsay (OCGA 24-8-804(b)(5) of Georgia’s new Evidence Code); and that the State improperly introduced fabricated evidence to secure the admission into evidence of Dowdy’s statements at trial. Finding no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Greene v. Georgia" on Justia Law

The Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari to the Court of Appeals in Georgia v. Walsh, 795 SE2d 202 (2016), to determine whether the Court of Appeals erred in reversing the trial court’s grant of James Walsh’s motion to suppress the results of a horizontal gaze nystagmus (“HGN”) test conducted on him in connection with his arrest and charges for driving under the influence of alcohol to the extent that it was less safe for him to drive and other traffic offenses. Finding that the Court of Appeals did so err, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of that Court. View "Walsh v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Johnathan McCoy was convicted of felony murder and associated offenses in connection with the shooting death of LaShawn Beasley. On appeal, McCoy argued that he was improperly sentenced and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. The Georgia Supreme Court agreed McCoy was erroneously sentenced; otherwise the Court affirmed McCoy's conviction. View "McCoy v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Johnathan McCoy was convicted of felony murder and associated offenses in connection with the shooting death of LaShawn Beasley. On appeal, McCoy argued that he was improperly sentenced and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. The Georgia Supreme Court agreed McCoy was erroneously sentenced; otherwise the Court affirmed McCoy's conviction. View "McCoy v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Tacomsi Winters was tried and found guilty of felony murder and related offenses in connection with the shooting death of Dionte Bradley. On appeal, Winters argued she received ineffective assistance of trial counsel, and that the trial court committed plain error in instructing the jury. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Winters v. Georgia" on Justia Law