Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Following a jury trial, J’Quante Crews was found guilty of malice murder (Count 1), two counts of felony murder (Counts 2 and 4), aggravated assault (Count 5), armed robbery (Count 6), possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony (Count 7), and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (Count 8) in connection with his role in the shooting death of Vernon Forrest. On appeal, Crews argued that his convictions should have been reversed and that he should have been granted a new trial due to alleged juror misconduct, and that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence expert testimony from a lay witness. After review, the Supreme Court found no merit to Crews’ challenges and affirmed his convictions. However, the Court also found that trial court erred with respect to the portion of Crews’ sentence relating to armed robbery (Count 6), so it vacated the erroneous portion of Crews’ sentence and remanded this case to the trial court for the imposition of an appropriate sentence on the armed robbery count. View "Crews v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant DeMariye Glover was indicted, along with a co-defendant, of malice murder, felony murder, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, all arising out of the shooting death of Demetrious Moore during an attempted armed robbery. He appealed the trial court's denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea to felony murder, arguing he had not knowingly entered the guilty plea (even though the undisputed evidence showed he was not the shooter), and that he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel. After review of the trial proceedings, the Supreme Court found no reversible error and affirmed appellant's convictions. View "Glover v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Xzarious Terrell was convicted of felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime in connection with the 2009 shooting death of victim Henry Wright, Jr. Appellant's motion for new trial was denied, and on appeal, he challenged the sufficiency of the evidence and claimed error in the trial court’s admission of statements of a non-testifying co-indictee under the co-conspirator hearsay exception. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Terrell v. Georgia" on Justia Law

After conducting a bench trial, the trial court found appellant Norman Buford guilty but mentally ill for the shooting death of Willie Archer and the aggravated assault of Orantes Dishmond. Buford argued on appeal that the trial court erred by not finding him not guilty by reason of insanity. Finding the evidence sufficient to support the trial court's verdict, the Supreme Court affirmed in that respect. However, the Court found that the trial court erroneously sentenced Buford to life in prison for both malice murder and felony murder. The Court vacated the sentence and remanded this case for resentencing. View "Buford v. Georgia" on Justia Law

The Court of Appeals affirmed Jaylend Glispie's convictions for violation of the Georgia Controlled Substance Act and certain driving offenses. The Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari to consider: (1) whether the Court of Appeals erred in concluding that text messages sent to the cell phone found in Glispie’s possession were admissible as party admissions; and (2) whether the Court of Appeals erred in concluding that the trial court did not err in denying Glispie’s motion in limine to exclude the text messages. Glispie contended that all of the text messages from his cell phone constituted inadmissible hearsay, and that the search warrant application for his phone failed to provide probable cause enough to justify the warrant. After review of the appellate court record, the Supreme Court found that: (1) the admission of the incoming text messages, even if considered to be hearsay, did not contribute to the verdict; and (2) there was a legally sufficient basis for the magistrate to issue a search warrant for the cell phones in Glispie’s possession. View "Glispie v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Rodqucas Bowen was found guilty by a jury of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the 2009 shooting death of victim Henry Wright, Jr. The trial court denied appellant’s motion for new trial and he appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and alleging the trial court erred in limiting the scope of voir dire and in admitting pre-trial photographic identification evidence. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Bowen v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Phillip Kennebrew was found guilty of malice murder, armed robbery, and other crimes in connection with the death of Breyon Alexander. The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions of Mason Babbage and Samuel Hall, who were tried together with Appellant, rejecting their claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. However, each defendant had his own attorney at trial, and Appellant, unlike Babbage and Hall, had shown that his trial counsel was professionally deficient in two significant respects and that, but for those errors, there was a reasonable probability that the result of the trial would have been more favorable to him. Accordingly, the Supreme Court reversed Appellant’s convictions. The Court did find, however, that the evidence presented at trial was legally sufficient to support the convictions, so the Court left it open that the State could retry him if it chose. View "Kennebrew v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Thomas Bradford appealed his convictions for felony murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime in relation to the 2011 shooting death of Raymond Lee. Appellant alleged on appeal: (1) the evidence was insufficient to convict; (2) that the trial court erred by not admitting certain other evidence; (3) that the trial court erred in instructing the jury; and (4) that several bench conferences that took place during trial were not transcribed and that he was excluded from them. Finding no reversible error in the trial court proceedings, the Supreme Court affirmed Appellant's convictions. View "Bradford v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In 1999, Joseph Tiger Prince was convicted of the malice murder of Edgar Reagan, and, as a recidivist, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prince filed a “Motion to Vacate a Void Sentence and Mere Nullity Conviction.” The trial court dismissed the motion, in part, because Prince produced no evidence to support his claim that his sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole was void. Prince appealed. Finding that Prince did not "advance any enumeration of error in regard to the trial court’s ruling on the lack of evidence of a void sentence," and that Prince's motion did not address any issue that would result in a void sentence (and was thus outside the trial court’s jurisdiction), the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal. View "Prince v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellee Robert Lenoris Smith was indicted by grand jury for felony murder and other offenses arising out of the shooting death of Octavius Powell. Smith filed a number of pre-trial motions, including a motion to suppress evidence of an oral admission, written statements, and video recordings of any statement made to law enforcement officers while in custody. After conducting a "Jackson-Denno" hearing, the trial court entered an order: (1) suppressing the admission of such evidence; (2) finding that the State failed to prove by a preponderance of the credible evidence that the statement of defendant was freely, voluntarily, knowingly, and understandably made and entered; and (3) the statement was made and entered without any undue influence, compulsion, duress, promise of benefit, or fear of injury. The State appealed, but finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's ruling. View "Georgia v. Smith" on Justia Law