Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In November 2014, a grand jury returned an indictment against appellant Norman Smart. He would ultimately be convicted of malice murder and related offenses in connection with the beating death of his wife, Lauren Smart, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. On appeal, appellant contended, inter alia, that there was insufficient evidence to sustain his convictions and that the trial court erroneously admitted both character evidence and hearsay testimony. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed appellant's conviction. View "Smart v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Deonte Smith challenged his conviction for felony murder in connection with the 2012 death of his two-month-old daughter, Keymaya. Appellant argued on appeal of that conviction that the trial court erred in allowing the State to cross-examine him about tattoos on his arm and by allowing the State’s expert witness to give a demonstration using a baby doll. After review, the Supreme Court agreed the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the full line of questioning about the tattoos, but any error was harmless, and the court did not abuse its discretion in permitting the expert’s demonstration. View "Smith v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In 2011, appellee Kealy Williams pled guilty to charges of malice murder, felony murder, hijacking a motor vehicle, armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was sentenced to life in prison on the malice murder conviction, twenty years imprisonment for his convictions for hijacking, armed robbery and aggravated assault, and a consecutive, suspended five year sentence for the possession of a firearm conviction. In 2013, Williams filed a pro se petition for habeas corpus contending, inter alia, that his plea was not voluntarily entered and that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance. After a hearing, the habeas court granted Williams’ petition, concluding that his plea was invalid because he was not of “sufficiently sound mind and intelligence” to make an informed decision to plead guilty and that he was denied effective assistance of counsel under "Strickland v. Washington." Stan Shepard, in his capacity as the warden of the Augusta State Medical Prison, appealed the habeas court’s ruling, arguing granting habeas relief in this case was in error. After reviewing the record and applicable legal authorities, the Georgia Supreme Court found no basis for the grant of habeas relief in this case and reversed. View "Shephard v. Williams" on Justia Law

In 2004, Dolores Moreno acquired residential property in Gwinnett County. Three years later, she gave a one-half interest in the property to her daughter Gina Moreno as a gift. Around the same time, Dolores and Gina signed a document that purported to be a contract whereby Dolores agreed to sell her remaining one-half interest in the property to Gina, and Gina agreed to pay $75,000 to Dolores in monthly installments. After six more years passed, Gina had made no payments to Dolores, and Dolores filed a lawsuit against Gina for breach of contract and for an equitable accounting as between tenants in common. The trial court granted partial summary judgment to Dolores, concluding that the evidence showed that Dolores and Gina entered into a binding and enforceable contract. The court awarded Dolores damages and fair market rent for her one-half interest as an equitable adjustment of the accounts of the tenants in common. Gina appealed. After review, the Supreme Court found that there was a genuine issue of disputed fact with respect to whether the contract was binding and enforceable, and that the trial court erred by granting partial summary judgment to Dolores on her claim for breach of contract. With the contract still at issue, the award of damages and relief on the equitable accounting claim was reversed, and the case remanded for further proceedings. View "Moreno v. Smith" on Justia Law

A grand jury indicted appellant Travis Williams stemming from the death of his seven-month-old daughter Syikiria. He was ultimately convicted of felony murder. A medical examiner testified the child died from "battered child syndrome," from "inflicted violent acceleration-deceleration" and an impact that caused three fractures to the child's skull. On appeal of his conviction, Williams argued the felony murder charge predicated on aggravated assault cannot stand because the prosecution failed to show he used his hands offensively and intentionally to kill his daughter; and instead appellant argues his only intent was to dislodge mucous from the victim. In addition, Williams argued the trial court erred in instructed the jury on the elements of criminal negligence as it related to felony murder and aggravated assault. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed Williams' conviction. View "Williams v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Marshae O’Brian Hickman was convicted of the 2010 attempted rape and murder of Candice Parchment. He appealed, asserting, inter alia, the trial court erred in joining these offenses for trial because they occurred several months apart. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Hickman v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Zerrick Walker appealed the denial of his motion for new trial following his convictions for the malice murder of Ronaldo Hill and the crime of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. In his sole contention of error in this appeal, Walker argued that the trial court erred in denying his motion for new trial on the ground of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, and asserted that counsel was ineffective in changing trial strategy from a claim that someone other than Walker shot Hill, to include an argument that whoever shot Hill was justified in doing so. The Supreme Court found that Walker failed to show that there was a reasonable probability that the outcome of his trial would have been different had counsel pursued only the defense that Walker was not the shooter. Accordingly, the Court affirmed his conviction. View "Walker v. Georgia" on Justia Law

This matter arose from wrongful death suit filed by appellant Tammy Pearce individually and as administrator of the estate of her husband, Christopher Pearce, against Glynn County Police Officer Henry Tucker after Christopher committed suicide while in custody. On the day of his suicide, Christopher (who suffered from major depressive disorder) arrived unexpectedly at his pastor’s house carrying a pistol in his hand; the pastor and his wife summoned help while Christopher remained outside. Officers Henry Tucker and William Tomlinson, Jr., arrived at the residence and observed Christopher with a gun tucked in his waistband. Christopher, a convicted felon, was subsequently handcuffed, relieved of the firearm, and placed in a patrol car. Officer Tucker transported Christopher to the Glynn County Police Department headquarters. Once at the headquarters, Christopher was placed in a holding cell with a monitored video feed. Pursuant to police department policy, Officer Tucker had Christopher remove his shoes, belt, tie, and the contents of his pockets. Approximately 15-20 minutes after being placed in the holding cell, Christopher ended his life by hanging himself with his socks. The trial court denied Officer Tucker’s motion for summary judgment; the Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court, concluding that there was insufficient evidence that any negligent act by Officer Tucker proximately caused Christopher's death, and the Supreme Court subsequently granted certiorari to review that decision. The Supreme Court held that as a threshold matter that Officer Tucker was entitled to qualified immunity, and it therefore did not address the merits of Appellant’s negligence claim. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeals under the "right-for-any-reason" rule. View "Pearce v. Tucker" on Justia Law

Appellant Sheree Dionne Murphy was tried by jury and found guilty of five counts of felony murder, aggravated battery, arson in the first degree, and cruelty to a child, all of which charges were related to a motel fire resulting in the deaths of five people. She was sentenced to life in prison, and she appealed the denial of her motion for new trial, asserting, among other things that she was denied her constitutional right to be present at all critical stages of the proceedings, that the State failed to provide her with notice prior to trial of an expert opinion, and that the guilty verdicts were the result of: (1) extrajudicial information improperly introduced to jurors during their deliberations; and (2) an outside influence that caused a deliberating juror to surrender her vote for acquittal. After carefully reviewing the record, the Supreme Court found no reversible error and affirmed appellant’s convictions. View "Murphy v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Following the reversal of his original convictions, appellant Daniel Allaben was retried and again convicted of malice murder in connection with the strangling death of his wife, Maureen. He appealed, asserting numerous grounds. Though the Georgia Supreme Court concluded after review of the trial court record that the evidence was sufficient to sustain his conviction, it agreed with appellant that the trial court failed to properly apply the rule of completeness and erroneously denied Appellant’s request to instruct the jury on certain lesser-included offenses. Accordingly, the Court reversed the judgment of the trial court and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Allaben v. Georgia" on Justia Law