Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Appellant Nick Roberson was convicted of family-violence simple battery after a trial in which she was represented by a public defender. Wishing to appeal her conviction, Roberson filed a motion seeking a transcript without charge as an indigent defendant under OCGA 9-15-2. The trial court held a hearing, but denied her motion. Roberson appealed. The Court of Appeals held that the authority to determine indigence for the purpose of requiring the county to pay for a transcript lay exclusively with the trial court, and thus could not be considered on appeal. Because the Court of Appeals was correct in its determination that the statute reserves this particular determination of indigence to the trial court alone, and because the record before the Supreme Court did not support Roberson’s assertion of a procedural violation, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Roberson v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Carol Hornbuckle was convicted of murder in connection with a domestic dispute that ended in the stabbing death of Charles Raburn. The trial court denied Hornbuckle’s amended motion for new trial, and she appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in denying her motion for immunity under OCGA 16-3-24.2, erred in its charge to the jury, and that she received ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Hornbuckle v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Steven Barnett was convicted of malice murder in the stabbing death of George “Bubba” Bennett. The trial court denied Barnett’s amended motion for new trial, and he appealed. Barnett argued to the Supreme Court he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that the trial judge should have recused herself. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Barnett v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Jami and Louis Jones, were tried together by jury and convicted of the murder of their six-year-old son, Colin (among other crimes). They appealed, both contending that they were denied the effective assistance of counsel. Jami alone also contended the trial court erred when it failed to instruct the jury sua sponte about certain evidence. Upon review of the record and briefs, the Supreme Court found no error, and affirmed. View "Jones v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Sylvester Henderson was indicted, along with a co-defendant, for malice murder, felony murder, and other charges relating to the death of Derrick Brown. In 2011, appellant entered a guilty plea for felony murder. The trial court accepted appellant’s guilty plea, entered final judgment of conviction, and sentenced appellant to life in prison. The remaining counts of the indictment either merged with the conviction for felony murder or, as with the malice murder count, were nol prossed. Over two years later, in May 2014, appellant filed a “Motion of Withdrawal of Guilty Plea,” and the trial court dismissed the motion for lack of jurisdiction. Although not in the record, the State indicated that in 2015, appellant filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus which was still pending with the Coffee County superior court. In early 2016, appellant filed a pro se motion for out-of-time appeal of the guilty plea conviction in which he asserted, among other things, that plea counsel failed to file a motion for new trial to preserve his right of appellate review of his conviction, that plea counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel in that counsel failed to investigate appellant’s mental history, and that the trial court failed to inquire into his competency to enter a plea freely, knowingly, and voluntarily despite the fact that evidence of his alleged incompetency was brought to the court’s attention. The trial court denied the motion, finding the guilty plea was entered freely and voluntarily based on the totality of the record, and that even if counsel failed to file a direct appeal, counsel could not be deemed to have provided ineffective assistance as such an appeal would have been frivolous given the record facts. The trial court noted that the guilty plea transcript reflected appellant was taking the prescription drug Risperdal, but appellant stated under oath that the drug did not affect his decision-making or reasoning. The record also reflected that on his written and signed guilty plea form appellant disclosed he was taking Risperdal, and indicated in handwriting that the drug was “not affecting [his] decision-making or reasoning ability.” The trial court further found appellant appeared to understand each question asked of him and provided intelligent, appropriate answers to questions, and also that appellant’s assertions that counsel exerted undue influence over him to enter his plea could not be resolved by reference to the record. Appellant filed a timely pro se notice of appeal. But finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Henderson v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Christopher Smith was tried and convicted of murder and related offenses in connection with the 2013 shooting death of Kevin Daniel and aggravated assault of Kamenika Whatley. Smith appealed, claiming three instances where the trial court erred. The Georgia Supreme Court found no merit in any of Smith’s trial phase enumerations, it did find error with regard to his sentences and therefore vacated and remanded for re-sentencing. View "Smith v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Roderick Smith was convicted of malice murder and other offenses arising out of the shooting death of his girlfriend, Sherita Dunham. Smith appealed his conviction and sentence and the order denying his motion for new trial. Finding no reversible error with respect to the convictions, the Supreme Court affirmed, but remanded for re-sentencing. View "Smith v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Chinua Plez was tried by jury and convicted of murder and other crimes in connection with the 2011 fatal stabbing of Gary Bussey. Plez appeals, contending: (1) the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions; (2) the trial court erred when it refused to charge the jury on voluntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense; and (3) that it erred when it admitted certain photographs of the victim as evidence at trial. Upon review of the record and briefs, the Supreme Court found no error, and affirmed. View "Plez v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant John Wyatt was tried and convicted of murder in connection with the death of 2-year-old Andrea Marginean. Wyatt appealed, claiming that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction and that the trial court erred by allowing the State’s medical expert to offer opinion testimony concerning Shaken Baby Syndrome. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Wyatt v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Earlin Turner was tried by jury and found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and various other offenses in connection with the shooting death of Damodar Pathak. On appeal, Turner contended only that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to pursue a particular defense theory and for failing to properly advise Turner about his right to testify at trial. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Turner v. Georgia" on Justia Law