Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

A grand jury indicted Keith Williams on 48 counts of sexual exploitation of children after police searched and seized his computer and several disc drives wherein they found the offending images. All counts in the indictment alleged that, on the day of the search, Williams “did knowingly possess and control a photographic image depicting a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.” Each count separately described a different image possessed by Williams. Before trial, Williams filed a “Motion to Dismiss Counts 2 through 48 of the Indictment” on the ground that these counts were “multiplicitous” because they all arose from a single criminal act. According to Williams, the simultaneous possession of multiple illicit images in a single location constituted only one offense under OCGA 16-12-100 (b) (8). Thus, Williams argued, the indictment subjected him to multiple punishments for the same offense, thereby exposing him to double jeopardy in violation of the U.S. Constitution, the Georgia Constitution, and statutory law. After a hearing, the trial court agreed with Williams, granted his motion to dismiss, and ordered the State to consolidate all 48 counts in the indictment into a single count. The State appealed, and the Court of Appeals reversed. After review, the Georgia Supreme Court concluded that, regardless of the merit of Williams’s multiplicity claim, the trial court was not authorized to dismiss Counts 2 through 48 of his indictment at the pretrial stage of the proceedings. View "Williams v. Georgia" on Justia Law

The Georgia Supreme Court granted a petition for certiorari in this case to address whether a detainee who had not yet been indicted could seek to bar his prosecution through a plea in bar on the basis that the statute of limitation for prosecution has expired. The Supreme Court held that a plea in bar was not proper until an indictment has been filed. Therefore, the Court concurred with the Court of Appeals which held Davis’s plea in bar was improper prior to indictment. “Although various mechanisms may exist to challenge one’s pre-indictment detention, including preliminary hearings, motions for bond and, in some cases, writs of habeas corpus, we express no opinion as to the propriety of these remedies in Davis’s case. Here, with regard to the only trial court order before us, Davis sought only to bar his prosecution in the trial court with a plea in bar, not to challenge his detention with a writ of habeas corpus.” View "Davis v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Hamlet Perdomo was convicted of the felony murder of Carl Bush, as well as fourteen other crimes committed against five additional victims during a 2010 crime spree. Appellant challenged the evidence presented against him at trial as insufficient to support his convictions. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Perdomo v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Juan Chavez appealed his convictions for malice murder, participation in criminal street gang activity, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a first-offender probationer all stemming from the 2015 shooting death of Ricardo Ovalle. Chavez challenged the sufficiency of the evidence as to his conviction for participation in criminal street gang activity and the felony murder count predicated on that felony. He also argued his lawyers at trial were ineffective in their handling of his prior first-offender disposition, and that the trial court erred by denying his motion for a mistrial based on the State’s failure to disclose a witness’s prior inconsistent statement. After review, the Georgia Supreme Court concluded the evidence was sufficient to sustain all but one of Chavez’s convictions; the evidence was insufficient to sustain Chavez’s conviction for possession of a firearm by a first-offender probationer, and it reversed that conviction. The Court determined Chavez did not show his trial counsel were ineffective or that the State’s failure to disclose the alleged witness statement violated his constitutional rights, so the Court affirmed Chavez’s other convictions. View "Chavez v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Ricardo Harris was found guilty by jury of murder and concealing the death of another in connection with the death of Yvonne James. Harris contended on appeal that the trial court erred in admitting his pre-trial statements into evidence, and that trial counsel was ineffective for allowing him to give an incriminating custodial statement. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of conviction. View "Harris v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Clinton Bankston appealed a trial court’s denial in part and dismissal in part of his pro se motion seeking to vacate his convictions and to withdraw his guilty pleas stemming from the murders of five people. In September 1987, a grand jury indicted Bankston for the murders of five people and other crimes that he committed when he was 15 and 16 years old. In 1988, Bankston pled guilty but mentally ill to five counts of malice murder. Other charges were nolle prossed, and he was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences. The trial court denied Banskton’s pro se motion to the extent it sought to vacate Bankston’s convictions, rejecting on the merits Bankston’s claim that his convictions were void. The trial court dismissed the motion to the extent Bankston sought to withdraw his pleas, ruling that it did not have jurisdiction to consider the claim because it was untimely. To the extent that Bankston’s motion sought to vacate his convictions, the Georgia Supreme Court determined the trial court should have dismissed it rather than denied it on the merits, therefore it vacated that part of the trial court’s judgment and remanded the case with direction to dismiss that part of the motion. The trial court order was affirmed in all other respects. View "Bankston v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Louis Floyd, Jr. and Tara Lee Harrell were convicted by jury of murder and other offenses in connection with the death of William Jackson. Floyd argued on appeal that the trial court erred by not granting his motion to sever the trial and by failing to charge the jury on justification, and that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance. Harrell argued the evidence presented by the State against her was insufficient to support the verdicts, and that the trial court should have granted her motion for directed verdict. Finding no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Floyd v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Jesse Swims was convicted by jury of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the death of Deborah “Debbie” Leigh Clemenson. Swims appealed, contending that the trial court erred in denying his motion for mistrial. Finding no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Swims v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Frederick Driver was convicted of felony murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the 2017 shooting death of Randy Diamond. On appeal, Driver contended only that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence an admission he made to police while in custody. The Georgia Supreme Court disagreed with this contention and affirmed the conviction. View "Driver v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In October 2016, a jury found Lerenzo Gaston guilty of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Terrance Walker. Gaston appealed, contending he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel because counsel: (1) did not request a jury charge on justification; (2) did not object to the State’s closing argument referencing evidence outside the record; (3) did not object to the admission of a prior consistent statement; and (4) did not introduce evidence that a witness initially denied seeing Gaston shoot Walker. Finding no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Gaston v. Georgia" on Justia Law