Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit certified to three questions of law to the Georgia Supreme Court relating to a lawsuit brought in federal district court by Fife Whiteside, the trustee of the bankruptcy estate of Bonnie Winslett. Whiteside sued GEICO to recover the value of Winslett’s failure-to-settle tort claim against GEICO so that the bankruptcy estate could pay creditor Terry Guthrie, who was injured in an accident caused by Winslett. The certified questions certified asked the Supreme Court to analyze how Georgia law applied to an unusual set of circumstances that implicated both Winslett’s duty to give GEICO notice of suit and GEICO’s duty to settle the claim brought against Winslett. The Supreme Court was unable to give unqualified “yes” or “no” answers to two of the certified questions as they were posed; rather, the Court answered the questions only in the context of the circumstances of this particular case. "Winslett remains liable to Guthrie, even if her bankruptcy trustee succeeds on the failure-to-settle claim against GEICO; therefore, if the bankruptcy estate does not recover enough from GEICO to satisfy Guthrie’s judgment, the estate would not be fully compensated for Winslett’s damages, and GEICO would escape responsibility for breaching its settlement duty to Winslett. Such an outcome would deny Winslett the full measure of compensatory damages allowed under Georgia law." View "GEICO Indemnity Co. v. Whiteside" on Justia Law

Appellant Derrick Agee was found guilty at a bench trial of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Steven Lowe and assault of Monitaaz Simmons. On appeal, Agee contended the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions because the two witnesses who identified him as the shooter later recanted their statements. Additionally, Agee challenged the validity of his waiver of his right to a jury trial. Concluding these claims lacked merit, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Agee's convictions. View "Agee v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Million Bedford and Yaheed Brooks were tried together and convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the 2017 shooting death of Johnny Jackson. Each contended on appeal that there was insufficient evidence to sustain their convictions and that the trial court erred in denying a mistrial due to the State’s improper comment about courtroom spectators during its closing argument. Separately, Bedford claimed the trial court erred by denying his motion for directed verdict of acquittal and by admitting his pretrial statements. Brooks argued that a detective witness improperly bolstered other witnesses’ testimony and that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to allow him to supplement his motion for new trial with new claims and by not setting an evidentiary hearing on the supplemental motion. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Bedford v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Eder Acosta appealed his convictions for malice murder and first-degree cruelty to children in connection with the death of Bryan Guzman. Acosta argued on appeal that the trial court erred in admitting the statements he made during his first interview with law enforcement investigators, and in denying his request to charge the jury on the lesser offense of misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Acosta v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Christopher Truett was convicted of malice murder and related crimes arising out of the beating death of his girlfriend’s two-year-old son, Wyatt Pruitt. He appealed, arguing only that the trial court erred in excluding certain character evidence. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Truett v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In 2016, Michael Gobert was convicted by jury of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Johnny Montgomery and the aggravated assaults of Edrius Putnam and Deisman Harrison. On appeal, Gobert argued the evidence presented at his trial was insufficient to sustain his convictions; the trial court erred by excluding Gobert from bench conferences; the trial court erred by failing to require the court reporter to transcribe jury selection and the charge conference; and the trial court erred by failing to rebuke the prosecutor for allegedly improper statements made during closing argument or grant a mistrial. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Gobert v. Georgia" on Justia Law

James Vann was convicted by jury of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Tiesha Davis. On appeal, Vann contended that his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to request a jury instruction on the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter. Because Vann failed to show that his trial counsel was constitutionally deficient in not requesting the instruction, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Vann v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Terrone Anthony was convicted of malice murder, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the shooting death of Kavader McKibben. On appeal, Anthony contended his trial counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance in four ways. After review of the trial court record, the Georgia Supreme Court disagreed and affirmed Anthony’s convictions. View "Anthony v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Nakotah Smith challenged his 2019 convictions for malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of his girlfriend, Crystal Vega. Smith did not dispute that the evidence presented at trial was legally sufficient to support his convictions. Instead, he claimed the trial court erred by admitting hearsay evidence under the residual exception without first explicitly making the determinations required by OCGA 24-8-807 (1) to (3), and that the court improperly relied on cases decided under the old Evidence Code. "Although the better practice is for trial courts to state on the record that each requirement of OCGA 24-8-807 has been met and why," the Georgia Supreme Court concluded that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in failing to do so here. Furthermore, the Court found the record did not show the trial court improperly relied on cases interpreting the old Evidence Code in admitting the challenged hearsay evidence. Accordingly, judgment was affirmed. View "Smith v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Courtney Thomas was convicted by jury of malice murder and other offenses in connection with the shooting death of his girlfriend, Shevonta Hardwick. Following the denial of his motion for new trial, Thomas appealed, arguing that his trial counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance by withdrawing a motion to suppress evidence obtained by the police during a search of Thomas’s vehicle. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Thomas v. Georgia" on Justia Law