Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Johnathan Anthony, Antonio Pass, and Jekari Strozier were tried by jury and convicted of murder and criminal gang activity in connection with the beating and death of Joshua Chellew. They appealed, each raising several claims of error. Upon review of the record and briefs, the Georgia Supreme Court found no reversible error as to their convictions for murder. The Court concluded, however, that the convictions for criminal gang activity had to be set aside: the Supreme Court found that based on the facts presented in this case, the offenses of unlawful participation in criminal gang activity through the commission of an aggravated assault and unlawful participation in criminal gang activity through the commission of an aggravated battery merged with the offense of unlawful participation in criminal gang activity through the commission of a simple battery, which formed the basis for, and properly was merged into, the felony murder of which the appellants were convicted and sentenced. Accordingly, their separate convictions for criminal gang activity involving aggravated assault and aggravated battery had to be vacated. View "Anthony v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Orlando Ramirez appealed his convictions for malice murder, attempted murder, and other crimes associated with a shooting in which Bruno Rodriguez was killed and Daniel Maldonado-Flores was injured. Ramirez argued that the trial court erred in excluding evidence of other incidents of criminal activity at the bar where the shooting took place. The Georgia Supreme Court disagreed, and therefore affirmed his convictions. View "Ramirez v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Jonathan Nations was convicted of murder and other offenses arising out of the killing of Bobby Swint and the wounding and armed robbery of Kenyatta Moss. His amended motion for new trial was denied, and he appealed, asserting as his sole enumeration of error the admission of his prior armed robbery conviction. Finding no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Nations' convictions. View "Nations v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Yvette Taylor was convicted by jury for the felony murder of Theodore Crew. Taylor served as the live-in caretaker of Crew. Crew’s nude body was found on the bathroom floor; he had suffered 21 blunt force and 17 sharp force injuries on his head, neck, arms, chest, and hands. The medical examiner ruled Crew’s death a homicide. Despite the signs of violent infliction of injury, there was less blood throughout the home than would be expected from Crew’s injuries. Along with other factors, this indicated that the apartment had been bleached and cleaned Taylor appealed, contending the trial court made a number of evidentiary errors, including the introduction of improper character evidence and an allegedly involuntary confession. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed her conviction. View "Taylor v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Steven Eller was found guilty of malice murder and other crimes, and his sister, Appellant Tammy Murphy, was found guilty of felony murder and other crimes, all in connection with the March 2013 shooting death of Murphy’s boyfriend, Danny Gravley. Appellants appealed, arguing the evidence was insufficient to sustain Murphy’s felony murder and aggravated assault convictions, that the trial court committed reversible error by allowing the alternate jurors to remain in the jury room during deliberations, and that Appellants’ trial counsel each rendered ineffective assistance for several reasons. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Eller v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Reno Byron was found guilty of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Virgil White. He claimed on appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court that the evidence presented at his trial was insufficient to support the jury’s guilty verdicts and that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance. The Court found no merit to either of those claims and affirmed Bryon's convictions. View "Byron v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Marquis Tanner was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Abel Carmona, Jr. On appeal, he argued the evidence presented at his trial was insufficient to support his murder conviction; that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to conflict-free counsel; and that the trial court erred by admitting into evidence a comment made by a detective during Appellant’s interrogation. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed his convictions. View "Tanner v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Willie Morris was found guilty of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the July 2004 shooting death of Fabian Miller. Morris appealed, arguing to the Georgia Supreme Court there were evidentiary and jury instruction errors, ineffectiveness of his trial counsel for several reasons, and that the trial court failed to properly exercise its discretion as the thirteenth juror in denying his motion for a new trial. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Morris v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Emmanuel Perez was tried before a jury and found guilty of malice murder and other crimes in the death of Armando Montez. Perez suspected that his wife was having a sexual relationship with the victim, who was also married. Perez’s wife met the victim while working at a club as a dancer. The victim worked at a tire shop, and Perez’s wife would frequently visit the shop. About a month before the shooting, Perez had in his cell phone the Spanish phrase for “the nightmare” as the name stored for his wife’s phone number, and the Spanish phrase for “the dead man” as the name stored for the victim’s phone number. A week or two prior to the shooting, Perez called the victim and confronted him with his suspicions. Perez and the victim then argued for several minutes before Perez shot the victim in the side of his head. After the victim fell to the ground, Perez continued to shoot the victim until his gun jammed. He then cleared the jam and fired an entire magazine into the victim’s body. In addition to the gunshot to the head, the victim suffered nine gunshot wounds to his neck and back, and died from his injuries. On appeal, Perez argued the trial court erred in admitting a hearsay statement from the deceased victim. Finding no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Perez v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Eddieard Greene was convicted by jury of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and various other offenses in connection with the shooting deaths of Freddie Jackson and Laura Dowdy and the shooting of Kendra Hays. On appeal, Greene argued the trial court erred in allowing certain statements of one of the deceased victims, Dowdy, to be admitted into evidence at trial under the forfeiture-by-wrongdoing exception to the rule against hearsay (OCGA 24-8-804(b)(5) of Georgia’s new Evidence Code); and that the State improperly introduced fabricated evidence to secure the admission into evidence of Dowdy’s statements at trial. Finding no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Greene v. Georgia" on Justia Law