Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

At issue before the Georgia Supreme Court in this case was an agreement between the Director of the Judicial Qualifications Commission (“JQC”) and the City of Atlanta Municipal Court Judge Terrinee Grundy. The agreement would resolve formal charges against Judge Gundy, alleging excessive tardiness and absenteeism, with a suspension of 30 to 90 days and a public reprimand, pursuant to Rule 23 of the JQC’s Rules. The Supreme Court accepted the agreement and ordered Judge Gundy be suspended without pay for 90 days and publicly reprimanded. View "Inquiry concerning Judge Terrinee Gundy" on Justia Law

Eric Wheeler appealed his convictions for murder, aggravated assault, and other crimes arising from the 2003 fatal shooting of Sonya Corbett and non-fatal shooting of Albert Carter. Wheeler’s sole contention of error was that the trial court should have suppressed evidence of a gun, an empty ammunition box, and bloody clothing that were seized as the result of an allegedly unconstitutional search. The Georgia Supreme Court determined any error was harmless, because Wheeler admitted shooting the victims. The Court thus affirmed his convictions. Wheeler’s sentence was vacated, however, because the Supreme Court noticed an issue as to two counts that the trial court purported to merge into other counts, but also entered sentences on those same counts. The matter was remanded for resentencing. View "Wheeler v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Marion Adkins, Jr. was convicted by jury of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the 2019 shooting death of Latisha Gresham. He appealed, contending that the circumstantial evidence presented at trial failed to exclude all other reasonable hypotheses, such as the commission of the crime by some unknown assailant or Gresham’s possible suicide, and was therefore insufficient to support his conviction. Adkins also argued that the trial court erred by not instructing the jury on “grave suspicion.” Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Adkins v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Aurie Bonner, III was convicted of murder in connection with the 2012 death of Christine Cook. On appeal, he contended his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance. After review, the Georgia Supreme Court disagreed Bonner’s trial counsel rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance and affirmed his conviction and sentence. View "Bonner v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Samuel Jones was convicted by jury of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the 2018 shooting death of Terrance Gibson. In consolidated cases, Jones argued on appeal that the trial court erred by refusing to charge the jury on voluntary manslaughter and that his trial counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance. The Georgia Supreme Court disagreed with both contentions and affirmed. View "Jones v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Riki Ray Albury was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the 2018 stabbing death of Ronald Roach. On appeal, Albury contended the trial court erred by failing to excuse two jurors for cause and by admitting a particular autopsy photograph into evidence, and that Albury’s trial counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance. Seeing no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Albury v. Georgia" on Justia Law

The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) was the temporary custodian of Appellants John and Brittani Chandler’s three children. The Chandlers sought a determination they had constitutional and statutory rights to object on religious grounds to DFCS’s immunization of their children. Because the juvenile court applied the wrong standard in finding that the Chandlers’ religious objection was insincere, the Georgia Supreme Court vacated the trial court’s order and remanded this case for application of the correct standard. View "In the Interest of C.C. et al., children" on Justia Law

Santron Prickett appealed his conviction for felony murder and other charges in connection with the 2010 death of Antwan Curry. Prickett argued on appeal that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a new trial because: (1) he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel when his attorney failed to stipulate to his status as a felon, thereby tainting the jury with evidence of Prickett’s prior criminal conviction; (2) his constitutional right to be present at all critical stages of the trial was violated when the trial court conferred with counsel out of his presence 26 times during trial; and (3) the trial court failed to rebuke the prosecutor and declare a mistrial, or, in the alternative, give a curative instruction to the jury following defense counsel’s objection to an improper comment by the prosecutor during closing arguments. Because the Georgia Supreme Court determined the trial court erred in sentencing Prickett, it vacated his convictions and sentences and remanded the case for resentencing. The Court affirmed in all other respects. View "Prickett v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Prior to his conviction for aggravated assault in this case, Turner Benton had been found guilty of three other felony offenses. However, for the first of those offenses, he was sentenced under Georgia’s First Offender Act and placed on probation. The Georgia Supreme Court granted Benton’s petition for a writ of certiorari in this case to consider whether his first-offender sentence became a “conviction” for purposes of OCGA § 17-10-7(c) when the record shows that his probation was revoked by the court multiple times, but where there was no adjudication of guilt. The Supreme Court found that for Benton’s first offense, the court’s revocation orders served only to revoke Benton’s probation, not his status as a first offender. Thus, upon the completion of his first-offender sentence, Benton was exonerated of the underlying offense by operation of law. The Supreme Court therefore determined that the trial court and the Court of Appeals erred in their determinations that Benton had been convicted of three felonies prior to his conviction in this case. Accordingly, the Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and remanded this case with direction that Benton’s sentence be vacated and he be resentenced. View "Benton v. Georgia" on Justia Law

A conservator was appointed after the minor children’s grandmother had already brought a wrongful-death lawsuit on their behalf. The conservator tried in various ways to exercise his litigation powers, with the goal of dismissing the grandmother’s lawsuit and bringing a similar one in a different county. The conservator was eventually joined as an “involuntary plaintiff” in the grandmother’s lawsuit, and his further attempts to gain control of the litigation, in that court and others, were rejected. He appealed several rulings unfavorable to him, but the Court of Appeals concluded that he had forfeited his exclusive power under OCGA § 29-3-22 (a) (6) earlier in the case when he declined to join the grandmother’s case voluntarily and sought its dismissal. The Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari and held that a conservator who declines to join preexisting litigation voluntarily and seeks to have that litigation dismissed does not thereby forfeit his exclusive power to participate in that litigation after he is joined as a party under OCGA § 9-11- 19 (a). So the Court reversed the Court of Appeals’ contrary holding, vacated the parts of the Court of Appeals’ opinion affected by it, and remanded the case to that court for further proceedings. View "Hall, et al. v. Davis Lawn Care Service, Inc., et al." on Justia Law