Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Jami and Louis Jones, were tried together by jury and convicted of the murder of their six-year-old son, Colin (among other crimes). They appealed, both contending that they were denied the effective assistance of counsel. Jami alone also contended the trial court erred when it failed to instruct the jury sua sponte about certain evidence. Upon review of the record and briefs, the Supreme Court found no error, and affirmed. View "Jones v. Georgia" on Justia Law

The parties, Peggy Albritton and Mark Kopp divorced in 2011. The final divorce decree incorporated a settlement agreement and child support addendum wherein Husband agreed to pay child support while the daughter was a full-time high school student. Daughter was enrolled as a senior in high school for the 2014-2015 school year, during which she turned 18 years old. Due largely to learning disabilities and medical issues, the daughter was a few credits shy of being able to graduate high school in a timely manner. In order to graduate, daughter needed to complete two semesters of advanced math, and one semester of economics followed by one semester of government. Accordingly, Wife enrolled daughter as a fifth-year senior for the 2015-2016 school year. Initially, daughter was registered in advanced math and economics for the fall semester but, in October 2015, she added two elective courses to her curriculum. Around this time, Husband ceased paying child support, claiming that daughter was not enrolled in enough classes to qualify as a “full-time high school student” as required in the parties’ divorce decree and related documents. Wife filed a motion for contempt based upon Husband’s failure to pay the required child support. The trial court denied Wife’s motion, and she appealed, arguing the trial court erred in denying her motion. The Supreme Court reversed, finding the trial court erred by effectively modifying the settlement agreement concerning Husband’s child support obligation, as the parties’ adult daughter was, in fact, attending school full time as contemplated by the settlement agreement. View "Albritton v. Kopp" on Justia Law

In January 2016, the Superior Court of Chatham County granted a petition for an interlocutory injunction, pursuant to which it removed Leonard McCoy as President of the Board of Directors of the Willow Lakes Plantation Homeowners Association. McCoy and the Association appealed, but upon its review of the record and briefs, the Supreme Court found no error and affirmed. View "McCoy v. Bovee" on Justia Law

Appellant Sylvester Henderson was indicted, along with a co-defendant, for malice murder, felony murder, and other charges relating to the death of Derrick Brown. In 2011, appellant entered a guilty plea for felony murder. The trial court accepted appellant’s guilty plea, entered final judgment of conviction, and sentenced appellant to life in prison. The remaining counts of the indictment either merged with the conviction for felony murder or, as with the malice murder count, were nol prossed. Over two years later, in May 2014, appellant filed a “Motion of Withdrawal of Guilty Plea,” and the trial court dismissed the motion for lack of jurisdiction. Although not in the record, the State indicated that in 2015, appellant filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus which was still pending with the Coffee County superior court. In early 2016, appellant filed a pro se motion for out-of-time appeal of the guilty plea conviction in which he asserted, among other things, that plea counsel failed to file a motion for new trial to preserve his right of appellate review of his conviction, that plea counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel in that counsel failed to investigate appellant’s mental history, and that the trial court failed to inquire into his competency to enter a plea freely, knowingly, and voluntarily despite the fact that evidence of his alleged incompetency was brought to the court’s attention. The trial court denied the motion, finding the guilty plea was entered freely and voluntarily based on the totality of the record, and that even if counsel failed to file a direct appeal, counsel could not be deemed to have provided ineffective assistance as such an appeal would have been frivolous given the record facts. The trial court noted that the guilty plea transcript reflected appellant was taking the prescription drug Risperdal, but appellant stated under oath that the drug did not affect his decision-making or reasoning. The record also reflected that on his written and signed guilty plea form appellant disclosed he was taking Risperdal, and indicated in handwriting that the drug was “not affecting [his] decision-making or reasoning ability.” The trial court further found appellant appeared to understand each question asked of him and provided intelligent, appropriate answers to questions, and also that appellant’s assertions that counsel exerted undue influence over him to enter his plea could not be resolved by reference to the record. Appellant filed a timely pro se notice of appeal. But finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Henderson v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Christopher Smith was tried and convicted of murder and related offenses in connection with the 2013 shooting death of Kevin Daniel and aggravated assault of Kamenika Whatley. Smith appealed, claiming three instances where the trial court erred. The Georgia Supreme Court found no merit in any of Smith’s trial phase enumerations, it did find error with regard to his sentences and therefore vacated and remanded for re-sentencing. View "Smith v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Roderick Smith was convicted of malice murder and other offenses arising out of the shooting death of his girlfriend, Sherita Dunham. Smith appealed his conviction and sentence and the order denying his motion for new trial. Finding no reversible error with respect to the convictions, the Supreme Court affirmed, but remanded for re-sentencing. View "Smith v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Chinua Plez was tried by jury and convicted of murder and other crimes in connection with the 2011 fatal stabbing of Gary Bussey. Plez appeals, contending: (1) the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions; (2) the trial court erred when it refused to charge the jury on voluntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense; and (3) that it erred when it admitted certain photographs of the victim as evidence at trial. Upon review of the record and briefs, the Supreme Court found no error, and affirmed. View "Plez v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant John Wyatt was tried and convicted of murder in connection with the death of 2-year-old Andrea Marginean. Wyatt appealed, claiming that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction and that the trial court erred by allowing the State’s medical expert to offer opinion testimony concerning Shaken Baby Syndrome. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Wyatt v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Earlin Turner was tried by jury and found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and various other offenses in connection with the shooting death of Damodar Pathak. On appeal, Turner contended only that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to pursue a particular defense theory and for failing to properly advise Turner about his right to testify at trial. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Turner v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Benny Kimbrough appealed a trial court’s order denying his 2015 motion to vacate as void his sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, which was imposed under OCGA 17-10-7 (b) for a murder he committed in 2004 after being convicted of kidnapping in Florida in 1994. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Kimbrough v. Georgia" on Justia Law