Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Anthony Bostic appealed his convictions and sentences for: the malice murder of Brian Patterson; the aggravated assaults of Quantavious Robinson, Dwayne Branker, Twahnica Mills, Latavia Hollinger, Anastecia Davis-Romero, Sandricka Meyers, Brittany Head, Isaiah Chandler, and Matthew Dowdy; and the possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Patterson, in company with Branker and Robinson, walked from a store to a pizza parlor to purchase a pizza. While in the parlor, Patterson saw Bostic and Eric Mathews outside in a car. Patterson made a derogatory comment regarding Bostic and Mathews; Patterson and Branker went outside the parlor and Robinson stood in the doorway. Mathews, who was driving the car, pulled into the parking lot of the parlor; from a window of the car, Bostic fired several shots toward Patterson and his companions, missing Branker, striking Robinson once in the foot, and fatally striking Patterson once in the chest. Bullets entered the pizza parlor, shattering the front glass. Inside the pizza parlor, customer Dowdy was walking toward the exit, and employees Head, Mills, Meyers, Hollinger, Chandler, and Davis-Romero were working, all of whom retreated further into the pizza parlor when the shots were fired. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Bostic v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Anthony Bonner was tried by jury and convicted of the murder of Terry Adams, the aggravated assault of Kenneth Perkins, and theft by receiving a stolen vehicle. On appeal, he argued that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel and that the trial court erred when it reprimanded his lawyer in the presence of the jury. Upon review of the records and briefs, the Supreme Court found no reversible error and affirmed. View "Bonner v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Kenneth Scott was convicted of trafficking in cocaine and related charges after he was found in possession of packets of powder cocaine, a "slab" of cocaine, crack cocaine packaged for resale, packages of marijuana, a mirror and a cutting tool, and several loaded handguns. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to the Court of Appeals in "Scott v. Georgia," (Case No. A12A2293) to consider whether former OCGA 16-13-31 (a) (1) required proof that the defendant had knowledge of the weight of the drug. Finding that the Court of Appeals erred in concluding that proof of the knowledge of the weight or quantity of cocaine was not an element of the offense, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded. View "Scott v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In 1997, Husband began working for Envirotech Environmental Services, Inc., a closely-held Subchapter S corporation. In 1998, Husband purchased 150 shares of stock in Envirotech ($1.00 per share), and made an additional capital contribution. Three years later, Husband and Wife were married. During the next year, Husband sold 50 shares of his stock for a total purchase price of $11,800. Husband retained 100 shares of the 1,000 issued shares of stock. As a minority shareholder, Husband was apportioned K-1 income to be recorded on his tax return, but the actual cash was retained in the company. In 2011, Husband filed for divorce. At the bench trial of the issues remaining in the divorce action, Wife maintained that she was entitled to an equitable division of the appreciation of the value of Husband's 100 shares of Envirotech stock from the date of the parties' marriage to the date of their divorce. Husband asserted that the 100 shares of stock should not be considered to be marital property and should be awarded solely to him because they were acquired prior to the marriage, and any increase in value of the 100 shares that occurred during the course of the marriage was not attributable to Wife or the marital unit but to outside market forces. The superior court awarded the entirety of the 100 shares of stock and any appreciation to Husband. Wife appealed. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Sullivan v. Sullivan" on Justia Law

Pedro Lee Walker appealed his convictions and sentences for malice murder and armed robbery in connection with the death of Christopher Shuman. On appeal, Walker argued that the State did not adequately show the chain of custody of the blood-stained shoes from which blood samples that matched Shuman's DNA were taken, and therefore the DNA test results should not have been admitted at trial. Further, Walker argued that the trial court erred by denying his motion to admit certain evidence that the jury might have persuaded the jury that another was Shuman's killer. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court and Walker's convictions and sentences. View "Walker v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Mark Reed was convicted of malice murder and other offenses in connection with the 2007 shooting death of Marlon Green. Proceeding pro se, Reed appealed the denial of his motion for new trial on numerous grounds. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Reed v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellee AGCO Corporation (AGCO) manufactured and sold a self-propelled, agricultural spray applicator called the "RoGator." In 2005, AGCO began offering an Extended Protection Plan (EPP) to its RoGator customers. Appellant Lloyd’s Syndicate No. 5820 d/b/a Cassidy Davis provided the master policy of insurance for the EPP program, which covered AGCO for certain liability to customers who purchased the RoGator EPP. Glynn General Corporation administered the plans. Between 2005 and 2008, AGCO enrolled about 2,050 RoGator machines in the EPP program. In 2008, a number of customers presented claims under the EPP based on the failure of wheel motors on the RoGator. After it paid about 25 claims related to this failure, Cassidy Davis invoked the "Epidemic Failure Clause" of the master insurance policy and refused to pay for any more claims. AGCO then sued Cassidy Davis asserting various claims, namely claims for breach of contract and bad faith denial of insurance coverage. The trial court granted partial summary judgment to AGCO and denied partial summary judgment to Cassidy Davis on a breach of contract issue, holding that the EPP covered failures caused by design and engineering defects in the RoGators. The trial court also denied Cassidy Davis’s motion for summary judgment on the bad faith claim, rejecting the insurer’s argument that it was not obligated to indemnify AGCO until a court entered a judgment establishing AGCO’s legal liability to its customers. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court on both issues. Cassidy Davis appealed, arguing: (1) that the Court of Appeals erred in its interpretation of the coverage provision of the extended protection plan; and (2) the Court of Appeals erred in its interpretation of the indemnity provision of the master policy of liability insurance. Upon review of the matter, the Supreme Court concluded the Court of Appeals misinterpreted the relevant language of both contracts. Therefore the Court reversed on both issues. View "Lloyd's Syndicate No. 5820 v. AGCO Corporation" on Justia Law

The Public School Employees Retirement System of Georgia (PSERS) filed suit against Appellant Leroy Ayers to recover three months of benefit payments to his mother that PSERS mistakenly made after Mrs. Ayers had died. A jury ultimately returned a $5,000 verdict in favor of Appellant. PSERS appealed, and the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the trial court erred in denying PSERS' motion for a directed verdict. The Supreme Court found that the statutes that established Mrs. Ayers' contract for retirement benefits did not authorize the payment of monthly retirement benefits beyond her life and her designated joint annuitant who predeceased her. Accordingly, no benefits were payable to Appellant after his mother's death. The Court of Appeals correctly concluded that the trial court erred in denying PSERS' motion for a directed verdict, but did so based on analysis of retirement forms Mrs. Ayers filled out and correspondence she exchanged with PSERS instead of analysis of the statutory scheme. View "Ayers v. Public School Employees Retirement System of Georgia" on Justia Law

Premier Petroleum, Inc. appealed the confirmation of the sale of a gas station held in receivership, entered after the superior court determined that a restrictive covenant Premier signed with a third party to encumber the property was unenforceable. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "CML-GA Smyrna, LLC v. Atlanta Real Estate Investments, LLC" on Justia Law

Appellant Antonio Hamm was convicted of murder and related offenses in connection with the 2008 shooting death of J. Remedios Ruiz-Mendieta. Appellant appealed the denial of his motion for new trial, contending that the trial court erred by failing to give certain jury instructions requested by defense counsel. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Hamm v. Georgia" on Justia Law