Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Charles Cook was tried by jury and convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the 2012 shooting death of Salanto Winfrey. On appeal, Cook contended the trial court erred when it precluded him from presenting evidence of Winfrey’s prior violent acts toward third parties. Seeing no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Cook v. Georgia" on Justia Law

The Georgia Supreme Court granted pro se petitioner Jason Mobuary’s petition for certiorari review. In 2003, petitioner pled guilty to enticing a child for indecent purposes. In 2018, he moved the trial court for an out-of-time appeal and motion for appointment of counsel. The trial court denied both motions in late 2019. Mobuary filed a notice of appeal of the trial court’s rulings. He mailed his notice of appeal on May 12, 2020; the trial court received the notice of appeal on May 22, 2020, and stamped it “filed” and docketed it on May 26, 2020. On June 16, 2020, in its Case No. A20A1922, the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction on the basis that, “[b]ecause Mobuary’s notice of appeal was filed 167 days after the order he seeks to appeal, it is untimely[.]” The record showed, however, that Mobuary initiated the appellate process in the time allowed, by filing on January 8, 2020, a request for an extension of time from the Supreme Court in which to file an application for a discretionary appeal. The Supreme Court granted an extension through February 10, 2020, and Mobuary filed a discretionary application by the extended deadline. Because the application involved a non-murder criminal offense, and did not appeal to raise any issues that would otherwise invoke the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction, the case was transferred to the Court of Appeals, docketed as Case No. A20D0344. The Court of Appeals determined Mobuary’s case could proceed via direct appeal, and on May 8, 2020, granted Mobuary’s application of discretionary appeal. The May 2020 order was entered when certain filing requirements were tolled by the Chief Justice in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In sum, the conclusion that Mobuary’s notice of appeal was untimely was made in error, and the judgment was reversed. View "Mobuary v. Georgia" on Justia Law

The Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari in this case to decide whether the Court of Appeals erred in holding that a video recording presumed to have no discernible audio, which depicted a now-deceased confidential informant (“CI”) purchasing a small bag of suspected methamphetamine from appellant David Gilmore (a fact neither party disputed on appeal), contained testimonial statements prohibited by the Confrontation Clause. The Supreme Court concluded the video recording depicted the CI’s nonverbal conduct but did not depict any nonverbal statements. As a result, admission of the video recording was not barred by the Confrontation Clause. The Court reversed the Court of Appeal’s decision which reached a contrary conclusion. View "Georgia v. Gilmore" on Justia Law

Appellant Hezekiah Walker was convicted of felony murder and other offenses in connection with the May 2018 shooting death of Samuel Davis, IV. On appeal, Walker contended: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions and to overcome his justification defense; (2) the prosecutor’s closing argument violated his right to a fair trial; (3) the trial court erred by excluding certain photographs of the victim offered by the defense while allowing the State to offer a different photograph of the victim; and (4) trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in various respects. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Walker v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Brandon Townsend was convicted of two counts of malice murder in connection with the deaths of Krystal Spainhour and Judy Potts. He appealed, arguing only that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by not requesting a jury instruction on voluntary manslaughter as a lesser offense. Because Appellant did not show his trial counsel performed deficiently, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Townsend v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Nathaniel Vivian appealed his convictions for felony murder and related crimes in connection with the 2014 shooting death of Daniel Zeitz. Vivian contended on appeal that the trial court erred in failing to advise him of his right to represent himself at trial, and claimed he received ineffective assistance of counsel based on his trial counsel’s failure to: (1) object to the introduction of his and his co- defendant’s cell phones as exhibits at trial; (2) object to an alleged non-unanimous verdict on the charge of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony; (3) challenge the grand and petit jury composition; and (4) request a jury instruction on mere association. The Georgia Supreme Court concluded there was no merit to these arguments, but because the trial court erred in sentencing Vivian on two separate counts of felony murder, those convictions were vacated and the case remanded to the trial court for resentencing. View "Vivian v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Holly Harvey entered a negotiated guilty plea to two counts of malice murder for the killing of her grandparents, Carl and Sarah Collier. While serving consecutive life sentences, Harvey sought to challenge that plea through a motion for an out-of-time appeal, which was denied. Harvey appealed the denial of that motion, arguing her plea counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance in advising her of her appellate rights and that she was entitled to withdraw her guilty plea due to that ineffectiveness. Because the Georgia Supreme Court did not concur with Harvey’s claim that trial counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance fails, it affirmed her conviction. View "Harvey v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Lamontez Hinton was convicted of malice murder and other crimes related to the 2014 shooting death of Kilon Williams and the armed robbery of Williams’s friend Nicholas Gibson. Appellant contended the evidence presented at his trial was legally insufficient to support his convictions, and that the trial court should have granted him a new trial under the “thirteenth juror” standard. The Georgia Supreme Court found those contentions had no merit, so the Court affirmed Appellant’s convictions except for his conviction for the aggravated assault of Gibson, which was vacate because it should have merged into Appellant’s conviction for the armed robbery of Gibson. View "Hinton v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Darcy Thompson was convicted of felony murder in connection with the shooting death of Tyrone Cochran. On appeal, Appellant’s sole enumeration of error was that the trial court erred by denying his request to instruct the jury on the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Appellant’s conviction. View "Thompson v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Brandon Terry-Hall, who pleaded guilty to felony murder and other offenses, appealed the denial of his motion for an out-of-time appeal. Terry-Hall: (1) argued counsel was ineffective for failing to appeal or move to withdraw his guilty plea; and (2) challenged the factual basis for his guilty plea in various ways. The Georgia Supreme Court determined Terry-Hall failed to raise below the ineffective assistance of counsel claims, and the challenge to the guilty plea itself was barred by the denial of his motion for an out-of-time appeal. View "Terry-Hall v. Georgia" on Justia Law