Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Kyro Morrison was tried by jury and convicted of the murder of Vonyell Byrd, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Morrison appealed, contending that the evidence was legally insufficient to sustain his convictions and that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. After review of the record and briefs, the Supreme Court found no error, and affirmed. View "Morrison v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Jonathan Kilgore appealed the denial of his motion for new trial (as amended), and his convictions and sentences for felony murder while in the commission of aggravated assault, aggravated assault, and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the fatal shooting of John Reid and the firing of a handgun at Jarvis Winder. Kilgore challenged certain portions of the State’s closing argument as improperly commenting on his right to remain silent and as being burden shifting; he also challenged the effectiveness of his trial counsel for not objecting to the allegedly improper comments. Finding no merit to any of these contentions, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Kilgore v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Jerome Upshaw was tried by jury and convicted of murder and unlawful possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the 1996 fatal shooting of Joanne Walton. Upshaw appealed, contending that: (1) the trial court erred when it limited his cross-examination of one prosecution witness; (2) when it refused to grant a mistrial after another prosecution witness refused to be cross-examined; and (3) when it excepted the lead detective from the rule of sequestration. After review of the record and briefs, the Supreme Court noted that the trial court erroneously sentenced Upshaw for both malice murder and felony murder, and vacated the conviction and sentence for felony murder. Finding no other error, the Court affirmed in all other respects. View "Upshaw v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Ramel Brown was convicted by jury for murder and related crimes. Brown was found guilty for gang activity too. The trial court granted Brown’s motion for new trial solely on that count, finding that evidence used to prove that crime at trial was not properly authenticated. The trial court, however, denied Brown’s motion for new trial as to the remaining convictions. Brown argued on appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court that the introduction of improperly authenticated evidence at trial required a reversal of all his convictions. After review of the trial court record, the Supreme Court disagreed with Brown’s proffered reason and affirmed the trial court’s judgment. View "Brown v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Leslie Mosby was convicted of murder and other offenses arising out of the 2012 shooting death of Theisen Wynn. Mosby appealed: (1) challenging that the evidence did not prove the affirmative defense of self-defense; (2) she received ineffective assistance of trial counsel; and (3) that the trial court erred in denying her motion for a new trial based on the alleged ineffective assistance of counsel. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Mosby’s conviction. View "Mosby v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellants Julius Thomas and Desmond Nixon were tried jointly and convicted of murder and related offenses in connection with a crime spree that took place over three days in January 2013. Both appellants appealed, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support their convictions and averring claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. The Supreme Court found no merit to the ineffective assistance claims raised by both Appellants. However, the Court did find error with regard to Nixon’s sentences for three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Therefore, the Court vacated those aspects of Nixon’s sentences. Further, though the evidence was sufficient to support all of Nixon’s criminal convictions and sentences, as well as Thomas’ convictions and sentences as they related to the assault, robbery and battery of Rosendo Bandera, the Court reversed Thomas’ conviction and sentence for the armed robbery and set aside his guilty verdicts for the aggravated assaults of “B.W.” based upon insufficient evidence proving he was a party to those crimes. View "Thomas v. Georgia" on Justia Law

More than 25 years ago, Raymond Yelverton was convicted of child molestation and aggravated child molestation, and as a result, he was required to register as a sexual offender. Yelverton filed a petition for release from the registration requirements. The trial court denied his petition, noting that evidence of a similar transaction was admitted at his criminal trial, and concluding that the admission of that evidence rendered Yelverton ineligible for release. Yelverton appealed, arguing that the court misconstrued the law concerning his eligibility for release. The Supreme Court agreed, reversed and remanded the matter for further proceedings. View "Yelverton v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Harold Parks appealed convictions for crimes stemming from the 2013 shooting death of Terrence Washington. He argued that the trial court made multiple evidentiary errors, including: (1) in admitting evidence of an old (1990) aggravated assault conviction at trial; and (2) the evidence ultimately admitted was insufficient to support his conviction. Finding no reversible errors, the Supreme Court affirmed Parks' convictions. View "Parks v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Former DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer W. Burrell Ellis, Jr. was indicted in 2013 on fifteen counts of attempted extortion and other acts of alleged corruption. He was re=indicted in early 2014 on thirteen counts relating to attempted extortion, theft, coercion, bribery and perjury. The first indictment was nolle prossed, and his first trial ended in a mistrial. Ellis was retried in 2015 on nine counts: four counts of attempt to commit theft by extortion, three counts of perjury, one count of bribery and one count of theft by extortion. The extortion charge came from Ellis' alleged attempt to procure a $2500 political campaign contribution from a DeKalb County vendor by threatening to cut the vendor's contract with the County if the Vendor did not pay. The perjury charges stemmed from Ellis allegedly lying to a Special Purpose Grand Jury about his role in cutting the contract of the same DeKalb County vendor. On appeal, Ellis contended, among other things, that his rights to substantive due process and equal protection of the laws were violated based on the inapplicability of the former version of OCGA 45-11-4 to his case, and that the trial court erred with respect to various evidentiary matters at his trial. The Supreme Court found that, although the trial court properly concluded that the inapplicability of former OCGA 45-11-4 to Ellis’ case did not result in any violation of his constitutional rights, the Court nevertheless reversed Ellis’ convictions based on certain evidentiary errors that occurred at his trial. Accordingly, the Court affirmed in part and reversed in part to allow for a retrial on the charges of criminal attempt to commit theft by extortion and perjury. View "Ellis v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In February 2014, Jason Dakota Baxter (who then was sixteen years old) was arrested and charged with aggravated sexual battery. Baxter was detained pending indictment and trial. About a month after his arrest, Baxter executed a written waiver of his entitlement to have his case presented to the grand jury within 180 days, and Baxter and the State filed the waiver with the superior court. In October 2014, however, Baxter filed a motion to transfer his case to juvenile court, asserting that his case had not been timely presented to the grand jury as required by OCGA 17-7-50.1 and that his waiver was ineffective. The superior court granted the motion, and the State appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed, finding that presentation to the grand jury within 180 days of detention was an absolute requirement (unless the time was extended for good cause), that such presentation was essential to the jurisdiction of the superior court, and that parties could not by agreement, consent, or waiver confer jurisdiction upon a court that otherwise was without it. The Supreme Court reversed, finding that the Court of Appeals misunderstood OCGA 17-7-50.1 when it concluded that the statute did not permit a detained child to waive presentation within 180 days of the date of detention. For that reason, the Court of Appeals erred when it affirmed the transfer from the superior court to the juvenile court. Accordingly, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Court of Appeals. View "Georgia v. Baxter" on Justia Law