Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In August 2012, a jury found Justin Dunn guilty of malice murder, felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the shooting death of Marquette Maurice Woods, armed robbery of Ricarlos Butler, and aggravated assault on Ruben Johnson. Dunn was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 55 years. His amended motion for new trial was denied. He appealed, arguing only that the trial court erred in granting the State’s challenge to a defense jury strike pursuant to Georgia v. McCollum, 505 U. S. 42 (1992). Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Dunn’s conviction. View "Dunn v. Georgia" on Justia Law

The Georgia Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari in this case to reconsider Hines v. Georgia Ports Authority, 604 SE2d 189 (2004), and more specifically, its holding that the Georgia Ports Authority was not an “arm of the state” and therefore, had no sovereign immunity from a lawsuit in a state court to recover damages under federal maritime law for the tort of a Ports Authority employee. The Court overruled Hines and concluded the Ports Authority was indeed an “arm of the state” and had sovereign immunity from lawsuits to recover damages under federal maritime law for the torts of its employees. View "Georgia Ports Authority v. Lawyer" on Justia Law

A jury found Dantazias Raines guilty of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the 2011 killing of Brandy Guined, as well as three counts of misdemeanor obstruction of a police officer. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole plus 40 years to serve consecutively. His amended motion for new trial was denied, and he appealed, asserting insufficiency of the evidence with respect to venue, corroboration of accomplice testimony, and the misdemeanor obstruction charges. He also argued the trial court erred in failing to charge on accomplice corroboration; that the jury improperly considered materials not admitted into evidence; and that his sentence of life without parole was void as a matter of law. After review, the Georgia Supreme Court found the evidence sufficient except with respect to venue on the obstruction charges, and found no plain error with respect to the jury instruction or the consideration of evidence by the jury. Therefore, the Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, vacated Raines’ sentence in part, and remanded this case to the trial court for resentencing in light of the Court’s subsequent decision in Veal v. Georgia, 784 SE2d 403 (2016). View "Raines v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Jerome Foster was convicted by jury of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, and related crimes in connection with the robbery, beating, and strangling death of Kenneth Scott, Jr. In his sole enumeration on appeal, Foster argued that, because the statements of an accomplice linking him to the crimes were not sufficiently corroborated, the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the convictions. View "Foster v. Georgia" on Justia Law

A jury convicted Demetrius Willis of three counts of malice murder and numerous related offenses. After finding beyond a reasonable doubt multiple statutory aggravating circumstances, the jury recommended death sentences for the murder convictions, and the trial court entered judgment accordingly. Willis’s motion for a new trial was denied, and he appealed his convictions and sentences. The Georgia Supreme Court determined the verdicts for aggravated assault of the three murder victims merged into the corresponding malice murder verdicts. Therefore, Willis’s convictions and sentences for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon of three victims had to be vacated. The Court affirmed all of Willis’s remaining convictions and sentences, including his death sentences for the murders. View "Willis v. Georgia" on Justia Law

A habeas petitioner who has completely served her misdemeanor sentence “must demonstrate that [s]he is suffering adverse collateral consequences flowing from [her] conviction. Seble Abebe appealed the denial of her petition for a writ of habeas corpus after she was convicted of DUI. She was sentenced to 12 months’ probation. She was denied relief because she failed to show adverse collateral consequences. The Georgia Supreme Court determined the superior court correctly determined Abebe was not entitled to relief. View "Abebe v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Following appellant Harold Bishop’s third trial for the 1996 murder of his wife, Sherry, he was convicted of felony murder. On appeal, he argued the trial court erred in admitting certain statements made by the victim under the necessity exception to the rule against hearsay contained in our old Evidence Code. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Bishop’s conviction. View "Bishop v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Selena Rivera was found guilty by jury of malice murder and other offenses in connection with the beating death of three-year-old Nevaeh Pinckney. Pickney was Rivera’s grandchild. On appeal, Rivera contended the evidence at trial was insufficient to support the verdict. The Georgia Supreme Court concluded the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction, and affirmed Rivera’s conviction. View "Rivera v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Patrick Hinton was found guilty of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the May 2013 shooting death of Henry Reeves. On appeal, Hinton argued his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to renew a request for a voluntary manslaughter jury instruction, and that the trial court erred by failing to merge two of his sentences. Finding no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Hinton v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Martez Johnson appealed his convictions for crimes related to the 2015 shooting death of Cortez Ingram and the aggravated assault of Torin Waters. Appellant argued the evidence was legally insufficient to support the verdicts and that the trial court erred when it did not grant his motion for pretrial immunity. Finding no reversible error after review of the trial court record, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Johnson v. Georgia" on Justia Law