Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In July 2019, James Hill, III, was convicted of malice murder for the strangling death of Kelly Marshall. The evidence presented at trial showed that Hill had a history of physically abusing Marshall, threatened to kill her the evening before her death, was the last person to see her alive, attempted to flee law enforcement officers, and lied to law enforcement officers about his whereabouts on the night of Marshall's death. Hill appealed his conviction, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction, that the trial court abused its discretion by denying his motions for mistrial, and that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance.Previously, a Newton County grand jury had indicted Hill for malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault. In July 2019, a jury found Hill guilty of all counts and he was sentenced to life in prison for malice murder. Hill filed a motion for a new trial, which was denied by the trial court in February 2023.In the Supreme Court of Georgia, Hill's conviction was affirmed. The court found that the evidence presented at trial was constitutionally sufficient to support the jury’s conclusion that Hill murdered Marshall. The court also found that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying Hill’s motions for mistrial. Finally, the court rejected Hill's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, finding that Hill failed to show that a motion to strike certain jurors for cause would have succeeded or that he was prejudiced by his counsel's actions. View "HILL v. THE STATE" on Justia Law

In this case, Lekievius Eleby was convicted for felony murder and other crimes related to a home invasion that resulted in the death of Danavan Bussey. The crimes occurred on December 5, 2010, and Eleby, along with Shameik Spinks and Bryce Smith, were indicted on multiple counts, including felony murder, armed robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and tampering with evidence. Smith and Spinks pled guilty to their charges before trial and testified against Eleby. A jury found Eleby guilty on all counts, and he was sentenced to life in prison for felony murder and armed robbery, among other sentences for the remaining counts.Before the Supreme Court of Georgia, Eleby challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions, the multiplicity of the indictment, the trial court's exclusion of evidence of past recollection recorded, the denial of his motion to suppress certain pretrial and trial identifications, and the sentences for the aggravated assaults, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and possession offense. He also claimed that the prosecutor made improper and prejudicial comments in his closing argument and that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to make certain objections at trial.The Supreme Court of Georgia vacated Eleby's convictions and sentences for armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. The court found that the remaining claims were either not preserved for appeal, without merit, or did not require reversal. The court concluded that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support Eleby's convictions and that the trial court did not err in denying Eleby's motion to suppress the pretrial and trial identifications. The court also found that the trial court did not err in sentencing Eleby for the separate assaults of Holmes and Johnson, as those counts did not merge with each other. However, the court agreed with Eleby that the trial court should have merged the offense of conspiracy to commit armed robbery with the conviction for felony murder predicated on armed robbery. View "ELEBY v. THE STATE" on Justia Law

The case involves three defendants, Saturnino Andre Lopez-Cardona, Wilmer Mendez, and Gerson Suruy, who were charged with crimes related to the stabbing death of Lucas Andres Cruz-Guzman. Each defendant filed pretrial motions to suppress statements they made during separate interviews with the same police officer. The trial court granted their motions, concluding that the defendants did not voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently waive their rights under Miranda v. Arizona before they made the statements. The State appealed the decision, arguing that the trial court's conclusion regarding Lopez-Cardona’s and Mendez’s statements was incorrect and should be reversed. However, the State conceded that the trial court properly suppressed Suruy’s statement.The trial court had found that the defendants did not audibly answer when asked if they understood their rights, and that neither defendant was asked if they waived their rights or wanted to talk to the police. The court also noted that there was evidence of potential mistakes in the translation of the Miranda rights, but did not make specific findings on this point.The Supreme Court of Georgia vacated the trial court's orders suppressing Lopez-Cardona’s and Mendez’s statements and remanded the case back to the trial court for further, specific findings. The court held that the trial court's findings were not sufficiently detailed to permit meaningful review of its rulings suppressing Lopez-Cardona’s and Mendez’s statements. However, the court affirmed the trial court's order suppressing Suruy’s statement, deferring to the State’s discretion not to challenge that order. View "THE STATE v. LOPEZ-CARDONA" on Justia Law

The case revolves around William Jordan Ford, who was convicted for the shooting death of Travron Gill. Ford was indicted for malice murder, three counts of felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a first offender probationer. The jury found Ford guilty on all counts, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, among other sentences. Ford filed a motion for a new trial, which was denied by the trial court.Prior to the case reaching the Supreme Court of Georgia, Ford had been convicted in a lower court and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He appealed this decision, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions for malice murder and armed robbery. He also claimed that the trial court erred in allowing a forensic witness to testify about aspects of a blood test that the witness did not perform and that the court should have granted him a mistrial because the forensic witness was not timely disclosed as a witness.The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the lower court's decision. The court found that the evidence was sufficient to support Ford’s convictions. It also ruled that the trial court did not err in allowing the forensic witness to testify or in denying Ford’s mistrial motion. The court concluded that any error in admitting certain exhibits into evidence was harmless. The court also rejected Ford's argument that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence exhibits containing cellphone data extracted from four cellphones, stating that any error in their admission was harmless. View "FORD v. THE STATE" on Justia Law

The case involves Mark Joseph Tatum, who was convicted of a "peeping Tom" violation and invasion of privacy for secretly recording a female neighbor through her window. Tatum was arrested shortly after the incident and indicted by a Madison County grand jury for the "peeping Tom" violation, invasion of privacy, and tampering with evidence. Tatum filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained from his cell phone, which was denied by the trial court. Following a bench trial, the court found Tatum guilty of the "peeping Tom" violation and invasion of privacy but acquitted him of tampering with evidence. He was sentenced to five years in prison and five years of probation, to be served consecutively.The Court of Appeals affirmed Tatum's conviction. The court assumed that the arresting officer's warrantless viewing of the video on Tatum's cell phone constituted an illegal search, but concluded that the evidence from Tatum's cell phone was admissible under the independent source doctrine. The court reasoned that the affidavit supporting the warrant application contained evidence sufficient to support a finding of probable cause even after excluding information obtained from the officer's warrantless search.The Supreme Court of Georgia granted Tatum's petition for a writ of certiorari. The court vacated the decision of the Court of Appeals and remanded the case with direction to vacate the judgment of the trial court and to remand to that court for further proceedings. The court held that when applying the independent source doctrine, courts must consider whether the State's decision to seek a search warrant was prompted by a prior unlawful search. The court found that the record on appeal did not reflect that the trial court considered whether the warrant application was prompted in this way. View "TATUM v. THE STATE" on Justia Law

In 2020, Albert Omstead contracted BPG Inspection, LLC to inspect a property he and his wife, Jessique Omstead, intended to purchase. The contract included a one-year limitation clause preventing Mr. Omstead from suing BPG Inspection or its employees more than one year after the inspection. After the inspection, the Omsteads purchased the property. Over a year later, Mr. Omstead died when a retaining wall on the property collapsed. Mrs. Omstead filed a wrongful death suit against BPG Inspection and one of its inspectors.The trial court found the one-year limitation unenforceable, but the Court of Appeals reversed this decision. The Supreme Court of Georgia granted review to consider whether the Court of Appeals erred in approving the one-year limitation and whether the limitation is void as against public policy.The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the Court of Appeals' decision. The court found that the one-year limitation was enforceable and not void as against public policy. The court rejected Mrs. Omstead's arguments that the limitation only applied to contract claims and not claims involving bodily injury or wrongful death, that the limitation functioned as a “contractually-effectuated statute of repose,” and that the limitation impermissibly voided “professional standards of conduct.” The court concluded that the one-year limitation did not violate OCGA § 13-8-2 (b) and was not void as against public policy. View "OMSTEAD v. BPG INSPECTION, LLC" on Justia Law

Rachel Hostetler was convicted of a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) and sentenced to 12 months in prison with 48 hours to serve. During her probation, she was involved in a single-vehicle collision and was charged with another count of DUI. She was convicted and sentenced to 12 months in prison with 48 hours to serve, but her sentence was suspended pending her appeal. Her motion for a new trial was denied by the trial court and the Court of Appeals affirmed the decision. Hostetler then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging that her former counsel was constitutionally ineffective. However, before the habeas court ruled on her petition, she completed her sentence and the habeas court dismissed her petition as moot.The Supreme Court of Georgia granted Hostetler’s application for a certificate of probable cause to appeal the dismissal of her petition. The court was tasked with determining whether she continues to suffer from adverse collateral consequences of her challenged conviction, notwithstanding the completion of her sentence. The court concluded that Hostetler’s petition is not moot, as she could potentially receive an enhanced recidivist sentence for a subsequent DUI conviction, which constitutes an adverse collateral consequence of her conviction and a restraint on her liberty. The court vacated the order of the habeas court and remanded for further proceedings. View "HOSTETLER v. THE STATE" on Justia Law

Ricquavious Tarver was convicted of murder and other crimes related to the shooting death of Roosevelt Demmons. The incident occurred in August 2016 at a car wash owned by Alton Tucker. Tarver and Demmons had a prior confrontation, and on the day of the shooting, Tarver confronted Demmons again. Tarver testified that he felt threatened by Demmons, who was walking towards him, so he shot Demmons eight times. Tarver was charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, plus five years to be served consecutively.Tarver appealed his conviction, arguing that the trial court erred in excluding evidence of his knowledge of Demmons's previous violent acts and a video-recorded interview of him by the police. The trial court denied his motion for a new trial, and Tarver appealed to the Supreme Court of Georgia.The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the lower court's decision. The court found that even if the trial court erred in excluding the evidence, any such error was harmless. The court noted that Tarver's claim of self-defense was weak and that there was strong evidence undercutting his defense. Furthermore, the court found that the evidence of Tarver's cooperation with the police from the video-recorded interview would be largely cumulative of the other evidence presented at trial, and therefore it was highly probable that the exclusion of the video did not contribute to the verdict. View "TARVER v. THE STATE" on Justia Law

Ricardo Sturkey was convicted of malice murder and other crimes related to the shooting death of Albert White. The crimes occurred in February 2009, and Sturkey was indicted by a Macon County grand jury in July 2010. In December 2010, a jury found Sturkey guilty on all counts, and he was sentenced to life in prison for malice murder, along with additional concurrent and consecutive terms for other crimes. Sturkey filed a motion for a new trial, which was denied by the trial court in January 2022.The Supreme Court of Georgia reviewed the case in 2024. Sturkey raised two claims of trial court error and argued that his trial counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance. The first claim was that the trial judge expressed an opinion on Sturkey's guilt during the questioning of a witness, violating Georgia law. The court found no error, as the judge's questions focused on the witness's methodology and did not express an opinion on the credibility of the witness or the facts of the case.Sturkey's second claim was that the trial court erred in its statements about the potential admissibility of polygraph evidence. The court found no error, as the trial court had not made a definitive ruling on the admissibility of the polygraph evidence, and the evidence was not admitted at trial.Finally, Sturkey argued that his trial counsel was ineffective for discontinuing cross-examination of a principal investigator and for failing to present the testimony of a witness who could provide evidence of additional suspects. The court found no merit in these claims, as Sturkey failed to demonstrate that his counsel's performance was deficient or that he was prejudiced as a result. The court affirmed Sturkey's conviction. View "STURKEY v. THE STATE" on Justia Law

The case revolves around Kenneth Lee Baker, who was convicted for the murders of his wife, Lynnale Baker, and stepdaughter, Shaelinda Sanders, and for possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. The victims were found dead in May 2010, and Baker was indicted in February 2011. He was found guilty on all charges except for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, which was not submitted to the jury. The trial court imposed four consecutive life-without-parole sentences for the murder counts, along with a consecutive five-year sentence for possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.Baker appealed his conviction, arguing that the evidence was insufficient, the trial court erred by failing to give a jury charge on impeachment for bias, and the trial court abused its discretion by admitting certain autopsy photos and a notebook found in his truck. His motion for a new trial was denied by the trial court, and the case was transferred to the Supreme Court of Georgia.The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the lower court's decision. The court found that the evidence was sufficient to support Baker's convictions, both as a matter of constitutional due process and Georgia statutory law. The court also concluded that the trial court did not plainly err in failing to give an instruction on impeachment for bias, and did not abuse its discretion in admitting the photos and notebook. The court held that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to authorize the jury’s verdict on the malice murder counts. The court also found that Baker’s confession to his father was corroborated by various evidence, including the circumstances under which the victims were discovered and the various evidence of Baker’s consciousness of guilt. View "BAKER v. THE STATE" on Justia Law