Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

A grand jury indicted Cordalero Collier in 2008 for a number of offenses, including murder. Months later, with the assistance of counsel, Collier entered a negotiated guilty plea to felony murder and the trial court entered an order of nolle prosequi on the remaining counts. Following the plea hearing, the court sentenced Collier to serve life in prison. Ten years later in 2018, Collier filed a pro se motion for an out-of-time appeal, contending, inter alia, that his plea counsel was ineffective for failing to inform him of his right to an appeal. Collier contended that immediately after the superior court sentenced him and explained his right to appeal, he “informed his counsel that he wanted to withdraw his plea and file an appeal of his conviction.” The trial court, after reviewing “the record and applicable law,” summarily denied Collier’s motion. Review of Collier’s case lead the Georgia Supreme Court to reverse a long line of cases with respect to out-of-time appeals. The Court also overruled a “peculiar line of cases” where a criminal defendant’s right to appeal directly from a judgment entered on a guilty plea was qualified in scope. Because the trial court denied Collier’s motion for an out-of-time appeal without holding an evidentiary hearing, the Supreme Court could not determine from the appellate record whether Collier’s failure to timely pursue an appeal was actually the result of his counsel’s deficient performance. Moreover, it recognized that, given the clear, though incorrect, mandate of the case law overruled by this opinion, Collier did not have a full and fair opportunity to pursue his motion for an out-of-time appeal before the trial court, the State did not have a full and fair opportunity to raise defenses, and the trial court did not have the benefit of this opinion to guide its consideration of the parties’ evidence and arguments. Therefore, the previous order in this case was vacated and the matter remanded for further proceedings. View "Collier v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In 2015, a grand jury indicted Ronnie Towns, charging him with murder and armed robbery. Two years later, Towns filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, alleging that the grand jury was unlawfully constituted because some of the grand jurors were not selected randomly. Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court agreed that two of the grand jurors were not selected randomly, and it dismissed the indictment. The State appealed. Finding no reversible error, however, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Georgia v. Towns" on Justia Law

Appellant Matthew Leili was convicted of malice murder and associated offenses arising out of the death of his wife, Dominique Leili. On appeal, Appellant claimed the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress, the State was erroneously permitted to adduce other-acts testimony from his ex-wife, and that trial counsel was ineffective. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Leili v. Georgia" on Justia Law

After he was tried and convicted of two vehicular homicides, Victor Mobley appealed, claiming that the trial court erred when it denied his pretrial motion to suppress evidence of data that law enforcement officers retrieved, without a warrant, from an electronic data recording device on his vehicle. Before the vehicles were removed from the scene of the collision, a supervisor in the Traffic Division of the Henry County Police Department, directed officers to retrieve any available data from the airbag control modules (ACM) on the two cars: a Charger and Corvette. An investigator entered the passenger compartments of both vehicles, attached a crash data retrieval (CDR) device to data ports in the cars, and used the CDR to download data from the ACMs. The data retrieved from the Charger indicated that, moments before the collision, Mobley was driving nearly 100 miles per hour. In denying the motion to suppress, the trial court had concluded that, whether or not the retrieval of the data was an unlawful search and seizure, the evidence was admissible in any event under the inevitable discovery doctrine. A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals affirmed, one judge reasoning that the retrieval of data was not a search and seizure at all, and two judges agreeing with the trial court that the inevitable discovery doctrine applied. The Georgia Supreme Court concluded the trial court erred when it denied the motion to suppress. The State failed to lay an evidentiary foundation for the application of the inevitable discovery exception in this case. And the State has failed to identify any other established exception to the exclusionary rule that was applicable to the facts as shown by the record in this case. The judgment of the Court of Appeals, therefore, was reversed. View "Mobley v. Georgia" on Justia Law

James Johnson, Jr. appealed his convictions for malice murder and armed robbery stemming from the 1995 shooting death of Tony Rogers. Johnson argued on appeal that the evidence presented against him at trial was insufficient to support his conviction because, though he was seen with Rogers prior to his death, there was no physical evidence he killed Rogers. Further, Johnson argued the evidence was insufficient to sustain the robbery conviction because it failed to show Johnson took Rogers’ property by force. Finding the evidence sufficient as to both grounds, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Johnson v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Johnny Colquitt pled guilty in 1993 to malice murder, armed robbery, and kidnapping with bodily injury in connection with the shooting death of Shelton Chappell. Colquitt received three life sentences for these crimes, with the sentences for malice murder and kidnapping to run concurrently with each other, and the sentence for armed robbery to run consecutively to the other counts. Twenty-five years later, Colquitt moved “in equity to void plea agreement and in arrest of judgment.” The trial court dismissed this for lack of jurisdiction. Acting pro se, Colquitt appealed. In his argument to the Georgia Supreme Court, he did not address the trial court’s grounds for dismissal. Instead, Colquitt reiterated his contention his conviction should have been vacated, and that his plea was not made voluntarily. Finding no merit to these contentions, the Supreme Court affirmed dismissal. View "Colquitt v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Corduray Scott appealed after he was convicted of felony murder and second-degree cruelty to children in connection with the death of his three-month-old son. Scott challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions, and also argued the trial court erred in admitting certain statements he gave during a custodial interview, because although he was read his Miranda rights, he was not reminded of them during a second interview. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Scott’s convictions. View "Scott v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Rodney Smith and Javon Jackson appealed the denial of their motions for new trial after a jury found them guilty of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Stephanie Smith and the shooting of Rasheeda Bostic. Both Smith and Jackson claimed: (1) the State presented insufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdicts; (2) the trial court erred in admitting recordings of two witnesses’ prior statements; and (3) their trial attorneys provided ineffective assistance. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Smith v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant LaQuan Brown appeals her convictions for the murder of Ivory Carter, the armed robbery and aggravated assault of George Jackson, and the attempted murder and attempted armed robbery of Frederick Knight. Appellant contended: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support her convictions; (2) the trial court erred in its rulings on a number of evidentiary matters; and (3) trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective in eight different ways. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the trial court and Appellant’s convictions. View "Brown v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Bahir Ramiz Howard was convicted of murder and related crimes for the 2010 shooting death of Jerode Paige. He appealed, arguing the trial court erred in several jury instructions, and violated his constitutional right to be present during his trial. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Howard v. Georgia" on Justia Law