Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In 2012, Sylvester Davis, Jr. was convicted of malice murder in connection with the 2011 shooting death of Marquis Wadley. Davis apppealed, arguing that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting certain testimony by a Georgia Bureau of Investigation (“GBI”) agent and in denying his motion for a mistrial, and that, to the extent that the Georgia Supreme Court concludes that he waived certain evidentiary objections by failing to raise them at trial, his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed Davis’ conviction. View "Davis v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Clarence McCluskey was convicted of murder and related crimes arising out of the shooting death of his wife, Lisa. He appealed, arguing the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions for cruelty to children in the third degree, and the trial court erred in refusing to give his requested charges on reckless conduct and involuntary manslaughter. The Georgia Supreme Court concluded the evidence was insufficient to allow a rational jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that McCluskey committed the offense of cruelty to children in the third degree and reversed his conviction as to those charges. However, the Court did determined the evidence sufficient as to all other charges and affirmed. View "McCluskey v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Lloyd Stephens and Demetrius Brewer were convicted after a joint jury trial for the murder of Eric Kemp. Both argued the trial court made multiple evidentiary errors. Additionally, Stephens argued he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Finding no reversible errors, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed both convictions. View "Stephens v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Kerri Redding was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Christopher Kenyatta. Appellant contended his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to raise the possible biases of two witnesses and by failing to object to certain testimony from the lead detective. Appellant also claimed the trial court erred by not allowing him to impeach an out-of-court declarant with a certified copy of the declarant’s conviction. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Redding v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Rashard Mosley appealed his convictions for numerous offenses, including the 2014 murder of Ivory Carter and the attempted murder and attempted armed robbery of Frederick Knight. On appeal, Mosley contended the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions, that the trial court erroneously permitted the State to elicit various inadmissible hearsay statements, that the trial court erroneously permitted the State to adduce “intrinsic evidence,” and that trial counsel was ineffective. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Mosley v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Johnny Allen appealed his felony murder and aggravated assault convictions for killing Robert Patton. On appeal, Allen argued the trial court erred by admitting evidence of events that occurred after the shooting, and by admitting photographs of the autopsy performed on Patton. Allen also argued the trial court erred and invaded the province of the jury by instructing the jury that a firearm was a deadly weapon as a matter of law. After review, the Georgia Supreme Court vacated the sentence for aggravated assault, which merged with felony murder by operation of law, but otherwise affirmed, because the Court determined Allen did not show no reversible error by the trial court in admitting evidence or instructing the jury. View "Allen v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Jokeera Morgan was convicted by jury of murdering by drowning her two infant daughters. Morgan drowned her daughters in her Chatham County, Georgia home. She immediately called 911 to report what she had done. The responding officers found the children’s bodies where Morgan had told the dispatcher they would be. Morgan confessed to the homicides in a police interview, telling the officers that “while she was [drowning her daughters], she was thinking that she couldn’t believe that she was doing it.” The medical examiner confirmed that the children had drowned and that their manner of death was consistent with Morgan’s description of how she had killed them. In support of her special plea of insanity, Morgan introduced evidence of her history of mental illness, which included severe bipolar-I disorder, schizoaffective disorder, major depressive disorder, personality disorder, and polysubstance abuse. Morgan’s experts concluded that her symptoms were consistent with those of mothers who had committed “altruistic filicide,” a homicide that results from a belief that a child is better off dead. Morgan appealed the order denying her motion for a new trial, contending that the trial court erred by: (1) excluding expert opinion testimony concerning her ability to discern right from wrong; (2) admitting police body-camera video recordings of her children’s bodies; and (3) giving an incorrect charge on whether the jury could consider punishment during its deliberations on the issue of her guilt. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Morgan v. Georgia" on Justia Law

David Mann Jr. was convicted of malice murder and two counts of first degree cruelty to children in connection with the death of seven-year-old Ethan Martinez. Ethan was Mann’s girlfriend’s son. Mann told first responders that two days earlier, Ethan had fallen from a playset and hit his head. A CT scan showed bleeding along the side of Ethan’s brain, as well as brain swelling. Ethan was transported to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where he was admitted with a traumatic brain injury. His other injuries included a circumferential bruise to his penis and scrotum, a bruised back, elevated liver enzymes, and retinal hemorrhaging in both eyes. Doctors eventually confirmed brain death, and Ethan was taken off life support. In his motion for a new trial, Mann argued the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions; that the trial court committed reversible error in multiple instances; and that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. Because it concluded his claims are meritless, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Mann v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Mary Katherine Smith was convicted of felony murder based on cruelty to children in connection with the death of her two-year-old son Mason “Tucker” Smith. Tucker did not wake following what was described as one of his breath-holding temper tantrums (where he would hold his breath until he passed out). Investigators would later determine Tucker suffered rotational force injuries, blunt force trauma. The child had nine healing rib fractures which may have been inflicted weeks earlier—injuries consistent with being hit, spanked and forceful squeezing. Smith contended on appeal of her conviction that the evidence was insufficient to support her convictions, and that the trial court erred by excusing a juror and by declining to give a jury instruction on her good character. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Smith v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Following his conviction for the murder of Barry Bullard, acting pro se, Allen Williams appealed the denial of his motion for a new trial. Williams argued numerous errors, including: (1) the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions; (2) that he received ineffective assistance from post-trial counsel; (3) the trial court ruled on his motion for a new trial without being prompted to do so; and (4) that several errors arose from an alleged “conflict of interest” involving Williams’ former counsel. Finding no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Williams v. Georgia" on Justia Law