Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In Case Number S17A1928, Samuel Blackwell appealed his convictions for malice murder, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, all in connection with the fatal shooting of Deirdre Smith and the wounding of two children. Blackwell challenged the sufficiency of the evidence of his guilt, the effectiveness of his trial counsel, and certain instructions to the jury. In Case Number S17A1929, the State appealed the trial court’s denial of its motion to vacate Blackwell’s sentence of life in prison for murder as void and to enter a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Finding no reversible error in either case, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Blackwell v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Neddrick Green was charged along with Jeremy Reynolds, Jr. and Allen Williams for the malice murder of Barry Bullard. Green and Reynolds (who was also charged with possession of cocaine) were tried together and found guilty. Green appealed, asserting that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. The Georgia Supreme Court found trial counsel’s decision not to seek severance was presumed strategic. “Even if counsel had filed a motion to sever, the court would not have abused its discretion in denying the motion as Green would not have been able to show prejudice from the joint trial.” With otherwise no reversible error in the trial court’s judgment, the Supreme Court affirmed Green’s conviction. View "Green v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Patricia Ann Brown was convicted of murder and related offenses in connection with the beating death of Eugene Clark. On appeal, Brown contended that trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective. Though the Georgia Supreme Court concluded that Brown was erroneously sentenced, it found no other error. The case was remanded for resentencing. View "Brown v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Tracey White was tried by jury and found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime in connection with the shooting death of Larry Miller. He appealed, arguing the trial court erred in its instruction to the jury on reasonable doubt, and claimed that he was deprived of his constitutional right to be effectively present at trial. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "White v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Javin Andrews was tried by jury and convicted of malice murder and a related offense in connection with the November 2010 shooting death of Ricardo Francois. Andrews appealed, alleging the trial court erroneously admitted his custodial statements at trial. Finding no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Andrews v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Matthew Pike appealed his conviction and sentence for malice murder and related crimes in connection with the death of Justin Klaffka. He challenged the denial of severance of his trial from that of his coindictees, the admission of certain evidence, and the legal sufficiency of the evidence of his guilt. The Georgia Supreme Court found no merit to these challenges and affirmed the conviction and sentence. View "Pike v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Joseph Norris was convicted of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault by shooting the victim with a gun (the predicate offense for the felony murder charge), and one count of aggravated assault with the intent to rob, all in connection with the shooting death of Michael Patton. In this appeal, Norris argued that the trial court erred when it failed to suppress his three videotaped statements to police, and that both of the aggravated assault convictions should have merged into the felony murder conviction. The Georgia Supreme Court agreed that the conviction for aggravated assault by shooting should have merged into the felony murder conviction, but otherwise found no error. The case was remanded for resentencing. View "Norris v. Georgia" on Justia Law

William Burke appealed his convictions for felony murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, charges stemming from the death of Andrew Daly. He argued that the trial court improperly limited the jury’s consideration of voluntary manslaughter to a lesser offense of only malice murder, both in its oral instructions and on the verdict form, so that the jury had no option to consider the lesser offense in relation to the felony murder charge. Finding that the trial court committed no plain error in this regard because the evidence did not support a finding of voluntary manslaughter, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Burke v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Jermaine Ware was convicted of malice murder and other offenses arising out of the shooting death of Rodney Mitchell, Jr. and the aggravated assault of two other individuals. The shooting took place following a prank committed on New Year’s Eve 2011. At the party, Ware and others were drinking. During the night, Ware fell asleep on the sofa and someone at the party painted his fingernails with nail polish and applied lip gloss to his lips. He was angry when he woke up to discover this prank. As the partygoers were leaving at about 8:30 a.m. on January 1, 2011, Ware continued to complain about the prank and asked Mitchell if he was the one who painted his nails, but Mitchell denied it. Mitchell borrowed a semi-automatic pistol from another partygoer, walked into the road, and shot into the air several times to celebrate the New Year. As Mitchell was turning to give the gun back to his friend, Ware stepped out of a car that was parked near the house where the party had taken place, aimed a revolver in Mitchell’s direction, and shot him. The Georgia Supreme Court rejected Ware’s argument that the trial court erred in failing to rebuke the prosecutor for statements made during the closing argument. The Supreme Court agreed, however, that the trial court committed a sentencing error, though it did not require the sentence to be vacated. View "Ware v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellee-taxpayers Westrec Properties, Inc. (Sunrise Cove & Snug Harbor Marinas), PS Recreational Properties, I. (Holiday Marina), Chattahoochee Parks, Inc. (Aqualand Marina), March First, Inc. (Gainesville Marina), and AMP III – Lazy Days, LLC (Lazy Days Marina) operated marinas on Lake Lanier in Hall County. The marinas were located on shoreline property leased from the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. For the 2015 tax year, the Board revised its real property tax assessments to include the assessed value of docks and other improvements as part of the leasehold interest instead of personalty, as in previous years. This increased the assessed value substantially: according to the taxpayers, between 345 and 3200 percent. The taxpayers appealed to the Board of Equalization. After hearings to determine the fair market value of the taxpayers’ property, the Board of Equalization upheld the assessments. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of appellee taxpayers based upon the Board’s failure to schedule a timely settlement conference as required by the 2015 amendment to OCGA 48-5-311 (g) (2), 2015 Ga. Laws p. 1219 et seq. (“the Act”), and the Board appealed. Because the plain language of the statute, as amended by the Act, required the Board to schedule and notice a settlement conference with the taxpayer within 45 days of receipt of a taxpayer’s notice of appeal, and provided that the appeal would terminate in the event the Board elected not to do so, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Hall County Board of Tax Assessors v. Westrec Properties, Inc." on Justia Law