Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Camden County, Georgia appealed a superior court's denial of its “Petition for Writ of Prohibition and Other Relief” concerning an order entered by Camden County Probate Judge Robert Sweatt, Jr., setting a special election for a referendum on whether resolutions authorizing the County’s purchase of land for a rocket launch facility should have been repealed (the “Referendum”). The County claimed the Referendum was not authorized under Subsection (b) (2) of Article IX, Section II, Paragraph I of the Georgia Constitution, which established home rule for counties (the “Home Rule Paragraph”) and that the results of the Referendum are a nullity. As a result, the County argued that the superior court erred in denying its petition for writs of prohibition and mandamus against Judge Sweatt and its petition for a judgment declaring that the Referendum was not authorized under the Constitution. After review, the Georgia Supreme Court disagreed and affirmed the superior court. View "Camden County v. Sweatt, et al." on Justia Law

Appellant Anthony Rucker, Jr. was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with a 2014 home invasion and armed robbery which resulted in the death of Tommy Lee Finch, Jr. and serious injuries to Zaccarie Printup. On appeal, Rucker contended the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on accomplice corroboration and in denying Rucker’s motion to dismiss the case on constitutional speedy trial grounds. After review, the Georgia Supreme Court found no reversible error and affirmed the trial court. View "Rucker v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Jazzy Huff was convicted of felony murder and related offenses in connection with the August 2019 shooting death of Zenas Lee Davis. On appeal, Appellant contended: (1) insufficient evidence supported his convictions; (2) the trial court erred in admitting irrelevant, improper, and prejudicial character evidence that Appellant held a firearm “gangster style” prior to firing the gun; (3) the trial court erred in admitting irrelevant, improper, and prejudicial character evidence that Appellant held the firearm the way an armed robber might hold a firearm; (4) he was deprived of an impartial jury because jurors had improper, unsupervised contact with the victim’s family during deliberations; (5) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to irrelevant, improper, and prejudicial character evidence; and (6) the cumulative effect of the trial court’s evidentiary errors and trial counsel’s ineffective assistance unfairly prejudiced Appellant and deprived him of his right to due process and a fair trial. After review of the trial court record, the Georgia Supreme Court found no reversible error and affirmed Appellant's convictions. View "Huff v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Desmond Jackson was convicted of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the 2017 fatal shooting of Heather Smith, the shooting of Quantavious Banks, and the aggravated assault of Kendaishia Jefferies. On appeal, Appellant contended: (1) the evidence was legally insufficient to support his convictions; (2) the trial judge erred by not recusing himself; and (3) that the trial court erred by allowing improper extrinsic evidence to be presented against Appellant at trial. After review of the trial court record, the Georgia Supreme Court found no reversible error and affirmed. View "Jackson v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Thomas McCoy was convicted of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the 2003 attempted burglary and shooting death of Theodore Barber, as well as theft by receiving of Tony Smith’s SUV. On appeal, Appellant contended in his sole enumeration of error that the evidence was legally insufficient to support his convictions. Finding no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "McCoy v. Georgia" on Justia Law

After successive jury trials in November 2017 and February 2018, Appellant Broderick Allen was acquitted of participation in criminal street gang activity, but convicted of malice murder and related offenses in connection with the shooting deaths of Antony Jackson and Miguel Hayes. On appeal, Appellant contended the evidence was constitutionally insufficient to support his convictions for the two counts of aggravated assault and two firearm possession charges arising from the November 2017 trial and for the remaining convictions arising from the February 2018 trial. He also contended: the trial court erred by refusing to grant him a new trial under the exercise of its discretion as a “thirteenth juror”; that the trial court erred by denying a motion for mistrial made by Appellant during the November 2017 trial when, according to Appellant, a witness improperly placed his character into evidence; and that the trial court erred during the February 2018 trial by permitting, over Appellant’s objection, the State to improperly bolster the credibility of a State’s witness. Finding the evidence sufficient and no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Allen v. Georgia" on Justia Law

After a joint trial, Darnell Sillah and Andrew Murray were convicted of malice murder for the shooting death of Paul Sampleton, Jr., as well as various other crimes. On appeal, Sillah, a juvenile at the time when Sampleton was killed, argued: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for criminal gang activity; (2) the trial court erred by admitting his custodial statement; (3) the trial court erred by denying his motion to sever; (4) the trial court failed to consider Sillah’s “youth and attendant characteristics” before sentencing him to life in prison without the possibility of parole (“LWOP”); (5) this sentence violated the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution; and (6) the trial court committed other sentencing errors. Murray, proceeding pro se on appeal, appeared to argue the trial court failed to consider the merits of his motion for new trial and that the State failed to present evidence of guilt at the motion for new trial hearing. The Georgia Supreme Court agreed with Sillah that the trial court should have merged his convictions for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and conspiracy to commit burglary, so those convictions were vacated; the Court otherwise affirmed. The Court found record belied Murray’s first claim, and the State had no burden of proof at the hearing, negating the second claim. The Court affirmed Murray's convictions. View "Sillah, Murray v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Israel Rutland was convicted of felony murder in connection with the deaths of Kelly Prescott and Matthew Horton resulting from a vehicular collision following a high-speed police chase. On appeal, Appellant contended in two related claims that his convictions for felony murder and homicide by vehicle in the first degree constituted “inconsistent verdicts” requiring reversal. Finding no no error, plain or otherwise, in the trial court’s failure to instruct the jury that it could not find Appellant guilty of both felony murder and homicide by vehicle in the first degree, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Appellant's convictions. View "Rutland v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Antonio Wilson was convicted of felony murder in connection with the shooting death of Tre Griffin. On appeal, he contended: (1) the evidence was not sufficient to support his conviction for conspiracy to purchase marijuana; (2) his indictment did not adequately describe that drug-conspiracy charge, which was the predicate felony for his felony-murder charge; (3) the State failed to prove that the predicate felony proximately caused the victim’s death; (4) the trial court failed to properly instruct the jury that a felony-murder conviction must be based on proof that the predicate felony proximately caused the death; (5) the trial court did not properly instruct the jury on conspiracy to possess marijuana as a lesser included offense of conspiracy to purchase marijuana; (6) the trial court improperly instructed the jury about proof of participation in a conspiracy; (7) the trial court improperly admitted irrelevant and prejudicial evidence, including a homemade rap video and Instagram messages from Wilson to a co-defendant; and (8) the trial court improperly imposed a sentence of life without parole. After review of the trial court record, the Georgia Supreme Court concluded each of these claims failed, and affirmed Wilson's conviction. View "Wilson v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Antonio Williams was convicted by jury of felony murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the shooting death of Martrell Gay. On appeal, Williams argued: (1) the trial court plainly erred by admitting cell-site location information (“CSLI”) secured through an insufficiently particularized “general” warrant; and (2) the trial court plainly erred by charging the jury that the testimony of a single witness was sufficient under OCGA § 24-14-8 without charging the jury on the need for corroboration of an accomplice’s testimony. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the convictions. View "Williams v. Georgia" on Justia Law