Justia Georgia Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Appellant Anighyah Neal challenged his 2018 convictions for felony murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the shooting death of Lance Williams. Appellant contended the evidence was legally insufficient to support his convictions, that the trial court violated his constitutional right to be present at four bench conferences during voir dire, and that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at trial. The Georgia Supreme Court found the evidence was sufficient to support Appellant’s convictions, the record fully supported the trial court’s finding that Appellant acquiesced in his counsel’s waiver of his right to be present at the bench conferences, and Appellant did not meet his burden to show that he received in effective assistance of counsel. View "Neal v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Merrick Redding was convicted by jury of felony murder and aggravated assault in connection with the death of Joseph Davis. The trial court denied Redding’s motion for a new trial. In a prior appeal, the Georgia Supreme Court held that the evidence presented at Reddick’s trial was legally sufficient to support his murder conviction, but otherwise vacated the trial court’s order and remanded the case for the court to make factual findings and legal conclusions regarding Appellant’s claim that his constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated. The Supreme Court did not address his other claims. On remand, the trial court issued an order rejecting the speedy-trial claim, merging the aggravated assault count into the felony murder count, and resentencing Appellant to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. Appellant then filed this second appeal, raising his constitutional speedy -trial claim again along with other claims. The Supreme Court concluded that the trial court misstated the law and failed to weigh all of the “Barker” factors in its post-remand order denying Appellant’s speedy-trial claim. For those reasons, the Supreme Court vacated the trial court’s order and remanded the case for the court to again resolve the speedy-trial claim; therefore, the Court again declined to address the remaining claims of error. View "Redding v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Christopher McNabb was convicted by jury of malice murder and other offenses in connection with the death of his infant daughter, Caliyah McNabb. Following the denial of his motion for new trial, McNabb appealed, arguing that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his convictions and that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to object to evidence of his drug use, incidents of physical abuse, and his relationship to Cortney Bell, Caliyah’s mother. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "McNabb v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Mark Munn appealed his convictions for malice murder and other crimes arising out of the 2018 shooting death of Kalliber Chambers. On appeal, Munn argued: (1) the evidence presented at his trial was insufficient to sustain his conviction for malice murder; (2) the trial court erred in failing to charge the jury on the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter; (3) the trial court committed plain error by failing to charge the jury on Munn’s sole defense of justification; (4) the trial court placed Munn in shackles before the jury, denying Munn his right to a fair trial and due process; (5) the trial court erred in admitting the responding officer’s body camera footage; (6) the trial court erred in admitting a recording of phone calls made from jail by Munn; (7) the trial court erred in denying Munn’s “Jackson-Denno” motion; and (8) Munn received ineffective assistance of counsel. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Munn v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Hymetheus Johnson was convicted by jury of one count of malice murder and one count of theft by taking in connection with the 2016 shooting death of Javontae Passard. Johnson appealed, alleging that the trial court erred in refusing to give a requested jury instruction on voluntary manslaughter as a lesser offense of the charges of malice murder and felony murder. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Johnson v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In 2013, Cory Butler was convicted at a bench trial for malice murder and other crimes relating to a 2009 home invasion and beatings that resulted in the death of Epsie Ewing and injury of her husband, C.F. Ewing. On appeal, Butler argued: appeal: 1) the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his conviction for malice murder; (2) the trial court did not determine whether Butler knowingly and intelligently waived his right to a jury trial; (3) Butler received constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel; and (4) the trial court committed a sentencing error. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Butler v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Darrall Early was convicted of felony murder and aggravated assault in connection with the 2019 shooting death of Ramonte Harris. In his appeal, Early contended the trial court erred by admitting a jail video recording into evidence, and by failing to merge the aggravated assault count when sentencing him. Finding no merit in these contentions, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Early v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Willie Caldwell appealed his conviction for felony murder arising out of the 2008 shooting death of Ricardo McPherson. On appeal, Caldwell claimed the evidence presented at his trial was insufficient to sustain his conviction because a key witness was an accomplice, and her testimony was not corroborated. Further, Caldwell argued the trial court erred by failing to give a curative instruction after the District Attorney’s prejudicial closing argument . Although the Georgia Supreme Court concluded the evidence was sufficient under the accomplice-corroboration statute to convict, the Court determined the trial court should have provided a curative instruction for the District Attorney’s erroneous argument, and that the error was harmful. Accordingly, judgment was reversed and the matter remanded for further proceedings. View "Caldwell v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Jordan Harris appealed his convictions for felony murder and other charges stemming from the July 2010 shooting of Walter Phelps during the robbery of Phelps’s store; Phelps died from blood clots over a month after the shooting. Harris argued: (1) the evidence presented at his trial was insufficient to support his convictions; and (2) the trial court erred by admitting other –acts evidence, unreliable identifications of him, evidence marred by violations of Brady and Georgia’s criminal discovery statute, and inadmissible hearsay. The Georgia Supreme Court found the evidence sufficient, there was no abuse of the trial court’s discretion in admitting the other-acts evidence, there was not a showing of a Brady violation (and the claim was waived under the discovery statute), and any error admitting hearsay was harmless. View "Harris v. Georgia" on Justia Law

The Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari in this case to decide whether the trial court properly granted summary judgment against public school teacher Sheri Mimbs, on the basis that Mimbs failed to institute her whistleblower action within one year after discovering the alleged acts of retaliation. After review of the trial court record, the Supreme Court concluded Mimbs’s complaint was timely with respect to one of the acts giving rise to her retaliation claim. Therefore, the Court reversed in part the judgment of the Court of Appeals affirming the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the school district. The case was remanded for further proceedings. View "Mimbs v. Henry County Schools" on Justia Law