Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Appellant Damien Heard was convicted as a party to malice murder and other crimes in connection with the fatal shooting of James Daniel Evers, the armed robbery of Donald Evers, and the aggravated assaults of Charles Emmons and John Elledge, Jr. On appeal, Heard argued that, among other things, the trial court erred by admitting under OCGA 24-4- 404 (b) evidence of subsequent crimes committed by Appellant. The Georgia Supreme Court determined that because the trial court abused its discretion by admitting the evidence of Appellant’s later crimes and the error was not harmless, Appellant’s convictions were reversed and the matter remanded for further proceedings. View "Heard v. Georgia" on Justia Law

This case stemmed from an October 2016 incident at the Atlanta airport during which law enforcement officers seized $46,820 in cash from Shara Cumins, James Crowder’s daughter. In the ensuing in rem forfeiture proceeding, the trial court awarded Crowder the property. The Court of Appeals, however, reversed. The Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari review to address : (1) in an in rem forfeiture, whether the forfeiture complaint could be served by publication in the first instance when an interest holder resides out of state; and (2) whether a trial court had to rule on a pending motion for a more definite statement before striking a claimant's answer as insufficient. As to the first question, the Supreme Court concluded the Court of Appeals properly interpreted OCGA 9-16-12 (b) (3) as permitting service by publication in an in rem forfeiture proceeding if the owner of the subject property resided outside of Georgia, and properly rejected Crowder’s claims that personal service was required and that the State’s complaint should have been dismissed based on its failure to personally serve him. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court held the Court of Appeals had to remand the case to the trial court for it to address Crowder’s claim that the State’s service by publication did not satisfy due process. As for the second question, the Supreme Court concluded OCGA 9-16-12 (c) (2) required a trial court to first rule on a motion for a more definite statement before dismissing a claimant’s answer. Because the Court of Appeals implicitly answered this question in the negative, that portion of the Court of Appeals’s judgment was reversed. View "Crowder v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Stanley Dixon was convicted by jury of malice murder for the shooting death of Cedrick Clark. He was also convicted of aggravated assault, possession of a handgun by an underaged person, and multiple counts of participating in criminal gang activity. On appeal, Dixon contended the evidence was insufficient as to all counts of participating in criminal gang activity and that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a new trial. In addition, he contended the trial court erred in instructing the jury on the offense of participating in criminal gang activity and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Dixon's convictions. View "Dixon v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Joseph Lyons was convicted by jury for the felony murder of Tony Lyons, two counts of aggravated assault, one count of home invasion, and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. On appeal, Lyons argued the trial court made numerous errors by: (1) allowing certain state exhibits to go to the jury during deliberations in violation of the continuing witness rule; (2) improperly instructing the jury on aggravated assault; (3) permitting the State to elicit hearsay testimony; (4) admitting photographs of Lyons in possession of a gun; (5) sentencing Lyons on the aggravated assault counts; and (6) admitting gang-related evidence. Lyons also argued he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial because: (1) trial counsel failed to object to certain witness statements; and (2) trial counsel failed to object to the admission of inadmissible hearsay statements. The Georgia Supreme Court agreed that the trial court erred in sentencing Lyons for the aggravated assault of Tony Lyons (Count 7), and accordingly vacated that sentence. However, with respect to Lyons’ remaining assertions, the trial court’s judgment was affirmed. View "Lyons v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Melissa Norris was convicted by jury of malice murder and a related firearm offense in connection with the shooting death of her father, Charles. Norris and her father had a strained relationship based on Norris’s refusal to follow her parents’ rules. In late 1995, Norris, then fifteen years old, told a friend she had been arguing with her father. Sometime after the call, Norris took a gun from her brother's room, walked down stairs to where her father was sitting, pointed a gun to the back of his head and pulled the trigger. Norris called her friend again, wherein she admitted to shooting her father. The pair did not call for help or notify law enforcement; instead, they met up and walked down the street to the friend's aunt’s house for dinner. The aunt noticed that the girls were acting “giggly” and whispering back and forth throughout dinner. After providing numerous conflicting stories to law enforcement, including telling officers that her brother had shot the victim and that she was not at home when the shooting occurred, Norris eventually admitted that she shot her father in the back of the head. She testified at trial she did not know whether the gun was loaded, and that she was "just being stupid, horsing around" when the gun went off. On appeal of her conviction, Norris argued the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on mistake of fact. Finding no such error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed her conviction. View "Norris v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Rodney Hamilton was convicted by jury of felony murder predicated on aggravated battery, in connection with the death of his three-year-old adopted daughter. On appeal, Hamilton argued the evidence submitted against him at trial was insufficient, and the trial court erred in admitting certain expert testimony of the child's brain injury. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed conviction. View "Hamilton v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Seth Joseph Brian Rouzan challenged his 2013 convictions for malice murder and another crime in connection with the shooting death of Joseph Williams, Jr. Appellant claimed: (1) the trial court applied the wrong legal test in admitting other-acts evidence; (2) committed plain error in failing to instruct the jury that an accomplice’s testimony was not sufficient to establish a fact unless corroborated; and (3) abused its discretion in denying his request to continue the hearing on his motion for new trial based on his motion-for-new-trial counsel’s admitted failure to prepare for the hearing. After review, the Georgia Supreme Court concluded the trial court erred in applying an obsolete legal standard to allow the State to introduce the other-acts evidence. Accordingly, the trial court’s judgment was vacated and the matter remanded for the trial court to apply the correct test under the current Evidence Code and to exercise its discretion on whether other-acts evidence should have been admitted. View "Rouzan v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Dora Treadaway was convicted of felony murder in connection with the death of her husband Claude “Randy” Treadaway. On appeal, Treadaway argued: (1) the trial court’s order denying her motion for new trial should have been vacated and remanded for additional factual findings; (2) the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Treadaway committed any unlawful act that proximately caused Randy’s death; (3) the trial court’s jury instructions on causation were erroneous; and (4) that trial counsel was ineffective in relying on cross-examination of the State’s medical expert rather than calling a defense expert witness and in failing to request the proper charge on causation. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Treadaway's convictions. View "Treadaway v. Georgia" on Justia Law

At a 2004 trial, a jury found Appellant Mario Stinchcomb guilty of felony murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the shooting death of Jakesha Young. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Stinchcomb’s convictions on direct appeal. In 2018, Stinchcomb filed an extraordinary motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence, which the trial court denied without the benefit of an evidentiary hearing. The Supreme Court thereafter granted Stinchcomb’s application for discretionary appeal to consider whether the trial court erred by failing to hold an evidentiary hearing before ruling on his motion. The Supreme Court concluded the trial court did err, and, accordingly, the Court vacated the order denying Stinchcomb’s motion and remanded this case for an evidentiary hearing. View "Stinchcomb v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Cedric Newton, Jr. was tried by jury and convicted of murder and other crimes in connection with the 2010 fatal shooting of Udondra Hargrove. On appeal, Newton claimed the trial court erred when it denied his motion to suppress evidence of two out-of-court identifications. He also contended he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at trial. Finding no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Newton v. Georgia" on Justia Law