Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Bobby Wynn appealed his conviction for malice murder in connection with the 2014 death of Demontae Ware. As grounds for reversal, Wynn: (1) challenged the admission of allegedly improper impeachment evidence; (2) challenged the exclusion of mental-health testimony; (3) argued the trial court erred in failing to charge the jury on a lesser-included offense; (4) challenged the admission of allegedly improper legal testimony; (5) challenged an allegedly improper self-defense charge; and (6) argued cumulative error. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Wynn v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Petitioner Jerry Thomas was convicted in 2010 of one count of child molestation. In 2017, Thomas timely filed an initial petition for habeas corpus challenging the conviction. The habeas court denied relief in May 2018. On July 1, 2019, the Georgia Supreme Court dismissed Thomas’s attempt to appeal that denial because both his notice of appeal and application for a certificate of probable cause to appeal were untimely. Meanwhile, on March 8, 2019, during the pendency of Thomas’s application for a certificate of probable cause to appeal with the Supreme Court, he filed a motion to correct void sentence in the trial court. In May 2019, the trial court granted Thomas relief and entered a new sentence. In August 2020, Thomas filed a second habeas petition challenging, among other things, the sentence imposed in the 2019 re-sentencing on several grounds. On December 22, 2020, the habeas court dismissed Thomas’s second petition as successive, ruling that the claims raised in that petition “could reasonably have been raised” in his initial petition in 2017. In appealing the habeas court’s dismissal, Thomas argued it was improper because his 2017 habeas petition was filed and litigated before his 2019 re-sentencing and before he raised issues related to that re- sentencing in his 2020 habeas petition. The Warden conceded that Thomas could not have raised claims in 2017 and 2018 concerning a re-sentencing that did not happen until 2019, and that the habeas court therefore erred in dismissing Thomas’s 2020 petition on grounds that it was successive. To this, the Supreme Court concurred and reversed the habeas court ruling. View "Thomas v. Caldwell" on Justia Law

Bertrand Hounkpatin was convicted of felony murder for the death of his two -year old stepson, Noel Johnson. On appeal, Hounkpatin argued the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his conviction. He also argued the trial court abused its discretion by: (1) admitting other-acts evidence (“Rule 404 (b)”) that he physically assaulted his stepchildren; and (2) preventing him from presenting Rule 404 (b) evidence that two of his stepchildren, who were State’s witnesses, had been violent towards Noel and each other. After review, the Georgia Supreme Court concluded the evidence was sufficient to sustain Hounkpatin’s conviction. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting other-acts evidence showing that Hounkpatin squeezed Noel and one of his siblings around their ribs; that evidence was relevant to whether Hounkpatin had the intent to commit the predicate felony of cruelty to children in the first degree and otherwise met the requirements of Rule 404 (b). Any error in admitting other evidence that Hounkpatin slapped or hit the children was harmless. View "Hounpatin v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Andrew Neloms was convicted of malice murder and other offenses in connection with the 2016 shooting death of Octavius Brooks. On appeal, Neloms argued: (1) the trial court failed to declare a mistrial sua sponte when an FBI agent testified regarding inadmissible evidence; (2) the trial court failed to conduct a “Faretta” hearing when Appellant declared that he wanted new attorneys; and (3) trial counsel rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance for failing to object to hearsay. Finding no error after its review, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Neloms v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Tremaine Washington was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Robert Purcell. On appeal, Washington argued: (1) the trial court erred by merging, instead of vacating, the counts of felony murder and aggravated assault when sentencing him; (2) his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance; (3) the trial court violated his constitutional right to a trial by jury by allowing the jury to deliberate without all of the evidence; and (4) the trial court denied his constitutional right to be present during trial by conducting a hearing about sending exhibits to the jury room after he left the courtroom . Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Washington’s convictions. View "Washington v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Tracy Smith appealed his conviction for felony murder in connection with the 2011 death of Jerome Walden. On appeal, Smith argued the trial court erred in overruling his special demurrer to the felony murder charge, and that the court erred in failing to grant a new trial on his claims of constitutionally ineffective assistance of trial counsel, based on counsel’s failure to (1) object to the verdict form and the trial court’s jury instruction on felony murder, which Smith contends allowed the jurors to render a potentially non-unanimous verdict; (2) file a general demurrer as to the felony murder count; and (3) file a plea in bar on the ground that Smith was not re -tried within the time period required by his statutory speedy trial demand. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Smith’s conviction. View "Smith v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Anighyah Neal challenged his 2018 convictions for felony murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the shooting death of Lance Williams. Appellant contended the evidence was legally insufficient to support his convictions, that the trial court violated his constitutional right to be present at four bench conferences during voir dire, and that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at trial. The Georgia Supreme Court found the evidence was sufficient to support Appellant’s convictions, the record fully supported the trial court’s finding that Appellant acquiesced in his counsel’s waiver of his right to be present at the bench conferences, and Appellant did not meet his burden to show that he received in effective assistance of counsel. View "Neal v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Andreas Perkins was convicted by jury of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the 2014 shooting death of Randy Menefee. On appeal, Perkins argued: (1) the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his convictions for burglary and two counts of aggravated assault; (2) the trial court erred by denying Perkins’s motion for mistrial after a witness improperly made a reference to gangs ; (3) the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted five photos that allegedly implied that Perkins was involved in gang activity ; and (4) Perkins’s trial lawyer was constitutionally ineffective when he failed to request certain jury instructions. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Perkins v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Merrick Redding was convicted by jury of felony murder and aggravated assault in connection with the death of Joseph Davis. The trial court denied Redding’s motion for a new trial. In a prior appeal, the Georgia Supreme Court held that the evidence presented at Reddick’s trial was legally sufficient to support his murder conviction, but otherwise vacated the trial court’s order and remanded the case for the court to make factual findings and legal conclusions regarding Appellant’s claim that his constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated. The Supreme Court did not address his other claims. On remand, the trial court issued an order rejecting the speedy-trial claim, merging the aggravated assault count into the felony murder count, and resentencing Appellant to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. Appellant then filed this second appeal, raising his constitutional speedy -trial claim again along with other claims. The Supreme Court concluded that the trial court misstated the law and failed to weigh all of the “Barker” factors in its post-remand order denying Appellant’s speedy-trial claim. For those reasons, the Supreme Court vacated the trial court’s order and remanded the case for the court to again resolve the speedy-trial claim; therefore, the Court again declined to address the remaining claims of error. View "Redding v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Mark Munn appealed his convictions for malice murder and other crimes arising out of the 2018 shooting death of Kalliber Chambers. On appeal, Munn argued: (1) the evidence presented at his trial was insufficient to sustain his conviction for malice murder; (2) the trial court erred in failing to charge the jury on the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter; (3) the trial court committed plain error by failing to charge the jury on Munn’s sole defense of justification; (4) the trial court placed Munn in shackles before the jury, denying Munn his right to a fair trial and due process; (5) the trial court erred in admitting the responding officer’s body camera footage; (6) the trial court erred in admitting a recording of phone calls made from jail by Munn; (7) the trial court erred in denying Munn’s “Jackson-Denno” motion; and (8) Munn received ineffective assistance of counsel. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Munn v. Georgia" on Justia Law