Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Following his conviction for the 2014 murder of Janice Pitts, Dewey Green appealed the denial of his motion for a new trial. Green argued numerous alleged errors, including that the trial court erroneously excluded two expert witnesses. Because the Georgia Supreme Court agreed the trial court abused its discretion in excluding the entire testimony of one of the expert witnesses, Sean Alexander, for Green’s alleged failure to comply with the requirement set forth in OCGA 17-16-4 (b), the Supreme Court reversed. View "Green v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In 2012, while represented by counsel, Ashleigh Ricks pleaded guilty to felony murder. That same day, the trial court entered a conviction and sentence of life imprisonment. Later that month, during the same term of court, Ricks filed two pro se motions, as well as a letter to the trial court, arguing that her plea was involuntary and that her plea counsel was ineffective; one motion asked “to appeal” the trial court’s sentencing order and the other asked the trial court to “reduce her charge to involuntary manslaughter and sentence her accordin[g]ly.” What would follow was a "complicated" procedural history. Ultimately, the case before the Georgia Supreme Court was an appeal of a trial court's order on several motions that were either nullities, untimely or some combination of both. The Supreme Court determined the trial court should have dismissed them. But because the trial court decided the motions on the merits instead, the Supreme Court vacated the trial court’s order and remanded with instructions to dismiss. View "Ricks v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In 2014, appellee Dexter Beard was indicted for the malice murder of Selemon Belai; felony murder predicated on the aggravated assault of Belai; four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon of Belai, Cedric Jeffries, Lee Bailey, and Benny Martin; aggravated battery of Jeffries; and the possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. In 2015, a jury found Beard guilty of all crimes except the aggravated assault and aggravated battery of Jeffries. Following the verdict, the trial court sentenced Beard to, among other things, life imprisonment for malice murder. On October 31, 2018, the trial court granted Beard’s motion for new trial in an 18-page order, exercising its discretion as the “thirteenth juror.” The State appealed the trial court’s grant of Beard’s motion for new trial. Contrary to the State’s "bizarre argument," the Georgia Supreme Court determined the jury’s verdict was not demanded by the “great physical laws of the universe.” Having reviewed the entire record, and considering that the trial court was authorized, as the thirteenth juror, to discount the State’s witnesses and to credit Beard’s version of events, and bearing in mind the standard of review set forth in OCGA 5-5-50, the Court could not say that the trial court abused its substantial discretion in granting Beard a new trial on the general grounds. View "Georgia v. Beard" on Justia Law

Tia Marie Dos Santos entered negotiated guilty pleas in 2018 to felony murder and other crimes. In the same term of court, she filed a pro se motion to withdraw her guilty pleas. The trial court denied the motion as meritless, and Dos Santos timely appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court. Pursuant to White v. Georgia, 806 SE2d 489 (2017), the trial court should have dismissed Dos Santos’s pro se motion as a legal nullity, because she was still represented by her plea counsel when she filed the motion. The Supreme Court therefore vacated the trial court’s judgment and remanded the case with direction to dismiss the motion to withdraw guilty pleas as inoperative. The Court also recognized, as it did not in White and some other cases, that had the trial court properly dismissed the motion, the Supreme Court would properly dismiss a subsequent appeal from that judgment, rather than affirming the judgment. The Court emphasized how important it was for criminal defense lawyers not to abandon their clients immediately after a guilty plea, and discussed how to deal with some of the practical issues that may arise from the holdings in White that were reiterated in this case. View "Dos Santos v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Frank Causey was convicted of malice murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole in relation to the fatal strangulation and drowning of Lydia Ivanditti. Causey alleged the evidence was insufficient to convict him because there was no evidence placing him at Ivanditti’s home at the time of her death. Furthermore, Causey alleged the trial court erred when it admitted custodial statements he made after he allegedly invoked his right to remain silent. Finding no reversible error as to either of Causey’s contentions, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed his convictions. View "Causey v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Tyron Henry was tried by jury in 2016 and acquitted of malice murder, but found guilty of felony murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the death of Michael Johnson. His amended motion for new trial was denied, and he appealed, asserting as his sole enumeration of error the trial court’s refusal to give his requested jury instructions on the affirmative defense of justification. In light of its recent decision in McClure v. Georgia, (Case No. S18G1599, decided Oct. 7, 2019), the Georgia Supreme Court concluded the trial court erred in refusing to give the requested instructions on justification by self-defense or the defense of others. Because the Court could not say it was highly probable that this error did not contribute to the jury’s verdicts, it reversed and remanded for further proceedings. View "Henry v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Sidney McKinney was convicted of malice murder for killing his former girlfriend Deborah Thigpen by beating and strangling her. On appeal, he argued the trial court erred by admitting his conviction for a battery against Thigpen committed three months before the murder as well as evidence of his attack on another former girlfriend 15 years earlier. Appellant also argued his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to object to the prosecutor’s statements in closing argument that Appellant had previously raped Thigpen. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed McKinney’s conviction. View "McKinney v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Roderick Thornton was convicted of malice murder and a firearm offense in connection with the 2014 shooting death of Jonathan Brady. On appeal, Thornton contended the trial court erred by improperly instructing the jury on aggravated assault and by failing to instruct on a witness’s motives in testifying and on accomplice corroboration. He also contended his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by not objecting to the trial court’s failure to give those charges and by eliciting certain testimony during his cross-examination of the lead detective on the case. Finding no merit to any of these claims, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Thornton v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In February 2010, there was a fight at a nightclub in Albany, Georgia, followed by a shooting in a nearby parking lot. A patron of the club, LeSheldon Stanford, was killed in the shooting, and a security guard for the club, George Ferguson, was wounded. Three years later, Shanard Smith, Anthony Hawkins, and Shuntavious Seay were tried together on charges arising from the fight and the shooting, and a jury found them guilty of murder and other crimes. They appealed. With respect to Smith, the Georgia Supreme Court found no reversible error and affirm his convictions. As to Hawkins and Seay, the Court affirmed their convictions for aggravated assault, which were based on their participation in the fight inside the club. The Court reversed, however, their convictions for murder because the evidence at trial was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they were parties to the shooting in the parking lot outside the club. View "Smith v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Kenneth Powell was tried by jury and convicted of malice murder in the shooting death of Lionel Turner. Appellant contended the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction, the trial court erred in instructing the jury, and that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance. Finding no merit to any of these claims, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Powell v. Georgia" on Justia Law