Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Appellant Hezekiah Walker was convicted of felony murder and other offenses in connection with the May 2018 shooting death of Samuel Davis, IV. On appeal, Walker contended: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions and to overcome his justification defense; (2) the prosecutor’s closing argument violated his right to a fair trial; (3) the trial court erred by excluding certain photographs of the victim offered by the defense while allowing the State to offer a different photograph of the victim; and (4) trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in various respects. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Walker v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Brandon Townsend was convicted of two counts of malice murder in connection with the deaths of Krystal Spainhour and Judy Potts. He appealed, arguing only that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by not requesting a jury instruction on voluntary manslaughter as a lesser offense. Because Appellant did not show his trial counsel performed deficiently, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Townsend v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Nathaniel Vivian appealed his convictions for felony murder and related crimes in connection with the 2014 shooting death of Daniel Zeitz. Vivian contended on appeal that the trial court erred in failing to advise him of his right to represent himself at trial, and claimed he received ineffective assistance of counsel based on his trial counsel’s failure to: (1) object to the introduction of his and his co- defendant’s cell phones as exhibits at trial; (2) object to an alleged non-unanimous verdict on the charge of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony; (3) challenge the grand and petit jury composition; and (4) request a jury instruction on mere association. The Georgia Supreme Court concluded there was no merit to these arguments, but because the trial court erred in sentencing Vivian on two separate counts of felony murder, those convictions were vacated and the case remanded to the trial court for resentencing. View "Vivian v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Holly Harvey entered a negotiated guilty plea to two counts of malice murder for the killing of her grandparents, Carl and Sarah Collier. While serving consecutive life sentences, Harvey sought to challenge that plea through a motion for an out-of-time appeal, which was denied. Harvey appealed the denial of that motion, arguing her plea counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance in advising her of her appellate rights and that she was entitled to withdraw her guilty plea due to that ineffectiveness. Because the Georgia Supreme Court did not concur with Harvey’s claim that trial counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance fails, it affirmed her conviction. View "Harvey v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Lamontez Hinton was convicted of malice murder and other crimes related to the 2014 shooting death of Kilon Williams and the armed robbery of Williams’s friend Nicholas Gibson. Appellant contended the evidence presented at his trial was legally insufficient to support his convictions, and that the trial court should have granted him a new trial under the “thirteenth juror” standard. The Georgia Supreme Court found those contentions had no merit, so the Court affirmed Appellant’s convictions except for his conviction for the aggravated assault of Gibson, which was vacate because it should have merged into Appellant’s conviction for the armed robbery of Gibson. View "Hinton v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Darcy Thompson was convicted of felony murder in connection with the shooting death of Tyrone Cochran. On appeal, Appellant’s sole enumeration of error was that the trial court erred by denying his request to instruct the jury on the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Appellant’s conviction. View "Thompson v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Brandon Terry-Hall, who pleaded guilty to felony murder and other offenses, appealed the denial of his motion for an out-of-time appeal. Terry-Hall: (1) argued counsel was ineffective for failing to appeal or move to withdraw his guilty plea; and (2) challenged the factual basis for his guilty plea in various ways. The Georgia Supreme Court determined Terry-Hall failed to raise below the ineffective assistance of counsel claims, and the challenge to the guilty plea itself was barred by the denial of his motion for an out-of-time appeal. View "Terry-Hall v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Robert Ellis was convicted by jury of malice murder and other offenses in connection with the 2017 shooting death of Jeremy Little. Ellis contended on appeal of his convictions that the trial court erred by admitting into evidence his custodial statement, arguing that his statement was made while he was too intoxicated to waive his Miranda rights. Ellis also maintained his trial counsel was ineffective because she did not object when a State’s witness testified about what a surveillance video allegedly showed, which Ellis argued invaded the province of the jury. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of conviction. View "Ellis v. Georgia" on Justia Law

William Thornton appealed his convictions for malice murder, armed robbery, and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony in connection with the 2017 stabbing death of Jullisa Cooke. Thornton argued: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his armed robbery conviction; (2) the trial court made evidentiary errors by admitting a 911 call and testimony regarding bloodstain pattern analysis; and (3) the trial court erred in denying his request for a continuance, made during trial, so he could attempt to access potentially exculpatory evidence on Cooke’s Facebook account. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed, finding the evidence was sufficient for the jury to conclude that Thornton was guilty of armed robbery; the trial court’s evidentiary errors, if any, were harmless; and Thornton failed to establish that the trial court erred in denying his request for a continuance. View "Thornton v. Georgia" on Justia Law

After Stephan Owens was convicted of felony murder and other crimes related to the shooting death of Richard Osadebe Egoegonwa, he was granted a new trial on the felony murder charge. The State appealed, and Owens cross-appealed. Because the Georgia Supreme Court found the trial court erred in granting a new trial on the ground that the verdicts as rendered were repugnant, that portion of the order granting the new trial was reversed. In Owens’s cross-appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed except to correct a sentencing error. View "Georgia v. Owens" on Justia Law