Baker v. The State
Publication Date: 2024-07-02Practice Area:Criminal Law
Industry:Court: Georgia Supreme CourtJudge: Presiding Justice PetersonAttorneys:For plaintiff: Frances C. Kuo, (Georgia Public Defender Council), Atlanta, for appellant.For defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Christopher M. Carr, Eric Christopher Peters, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Elizabeth A. Baker, Marie Greene Broder, (Griffin Circuit District Attorney’s Office), Griffin, for appellee.Case number: S24A0478
Court affirms convictions for malice murder and firearms possession in a double homicide over defendant's challenge to sufficiency of evidence and multiple claims of trial court error
Tarver v. State
Publication Date: 2024-07-02Practice Area:Criminal Law
Industry:Court: Georgia Supreme CourtJudge: Justice McMillianAttorneys:For plaintiff: Howard W Anderson, III, (Truluck Thomason LLC), Greenville, for appellant.For defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Christopher M. Carr, Eric Christopher Peters, (Department of Law), Atlanta, William Patrick Doupé, Debra Rhodes Neumann, (Toombs Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office), Thomson, for appellee.Case number: S24A0521
Court affirms convictions for murder and other crimes over defendant's claims of improper exclusion of evidence and ineffective assistance of counsel
Sturkey v. The State
Publication Date: 2024-07-02Practice Area:Criminal Law
Industry:Court: Georgia Supreme CourtJudge: Justice BethelAttorneys:For plaintiff: Jennifer Robinson Watts, Americus, for appellant.For defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Christopher M. Carr, Mary Catherine Norman, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Lewis Ramon Lamb, (Southwestern Circuit District Attorney), Americus, for appellee.Case number: S24A0493
Court affirms malice murder conviction over defendant's contentions of insufficient evidence, improper statements by trial court, and ineffective assistance of trial counsel
Jones v. The State
Publication Date: 2024-07-01Practice Area:Criminal Law
Industry:Court: Georgia Supreme CourtJudge: Chief Justice BoggsAttorneys:For plaintiff: William Davis Hewitt, (The Appellate Division - Georgia Public Defender Council), Savannah, for appellant.For defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Christopher M. Carr, Elizabeth Rosenwasser, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Deborah D. Wellborn, Sherry Boston, Agatha K. Romanowski, (Dekalb County District Attorney’s Office), Decatur, for appellee.Case number: S24A0351
Court affirms felony murder conviction and life without parole sentence despite defendant's challenges on evidence and arguments regarding his mental condition
Allen v. The State
Publication Date: 2024-06-28Practice Area:Criminal Law
Industry:Court: Georgia Supreme CourtJudge: Presiding Justice PetersonAttorneys:For plaintiff: N/aFor defendant: N/aCase number: S24A0171
In a sharply divided opinion, court reverses malice murder conviction due to failure to instruct jury on voluntary manslaughter
Zayas v. The State
Publication Date: 2024-06-28Practice Area:Criminal Law
Industry:Court: Georgia Supreme CourtJudge: Justice ColvinAttorneys:For plaintiff: Matthew Kyle Winchester, (Law Offices of Matthew K. Winchester), Atlanta, Lawrence Jason Zimmerman, (The Law Office of Lawrence J. Zimmerman), Marietta, for appellant.For defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Christopher M. Carr, Eric Christopher Peters, Mary Catherine Norman, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Lee Darragh, (Hall County District Attorney’s Office), Gainesville, Kelley Martin Robertson, Anna Victoria Fowler, (Northeastern Circuit District Attorney’s Office), Gainesville, for appellee.Case number: S24A0025
Court affirms convictions for malice murder and other crimes over defendant's challenge to sufficiency of evidence, contentions of ineffective assistance, and jury instruction error
Worth County School District v. Tibbetts
Publication Date: 2024-06-27Practice Area:Contractual Disputes |
Government
Industry:State and Local Government
Court: Georgia Supreme CourtJudge: Justice EllingtonAttorneys:For plaintiff: Grant E. McBride, Matthew Chase Collum, (Smith, Welch, Webb & White LLC), McDonough, for appellant.For defendant: Charles E. Cox, Jr., (Charles E. Cox, Jr., LLC), Macon, for appellee; Phillip L. Hartley, Stephen Duane Pereira, (Pereira, Kirby, Kinsinger & Nguyen, LLP), Lawrenceville, for Amicus Appellant.Case number: S23G0791
Court reverses appellate court opinion and concludes that a former teacher's breach of contract action was barred by sovereign immunity because a valid contract had not been formed
Smith et al. v. The State
Publication Date: 2024-06-27Practice Area:Criminal Law
Industry:Court: Georgia Supreme CourtJudge: Justice ColvinAttorneys:For plaintiff: Christopher Scott Anulewicz, Wayne R. Beckermann, (Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP), Atlanta, Douglas Ray McMillan, (Shingler & McMillan LLC), Bainbridge, for appellant.For defendant: Joseph Kenneth Mulholland, Christopher Michael Quinn, (South Georgia Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office), Bainbridge, for appellee; Lynsey M Barron, (Barron Law LLC), Atlanta, Daniel L. Alban, Anna J. Goodman, (Institute For Justice), Arlington, Paul Oliver, Les A. Schneider, (Wimberly Lawson Steckel Schneider & Stine, P.C.), Atlanta, Thomas Leland Walker, (Vernis & Bowling of Atlanta, LLC), Atlanta, for Amicus Appellant.Case number: S23G0701
Court reverses and remands civil asset forfeiture case, finding that the State's complaint failed to adequately allege essential elements of theft by taking.
Howard v. The State
Publication Date: 2024-06-27Practice Area:Criminal Appeals
Industry:Court: Georgia Supreme CourtJudge: Presiding Justice PetersonAttorneys:For plaintiff: John Walter Donnelly, (Western Judicial Circuit Public Defender), Athens, for appellant.For defendant: Deborah Gonzalez, (Western Circuit District Attorney’s Office), Athens, John Allen Regan, (Prosecuting Attorney’s Council of Georgia), Morrow, for appellee.Case number: S23G1037
Court rules that adjudication of guilt upon revocation of first-offender status is directly appealable, and reverses appellate court judgment that dismissed appeal for lack of jurisdiction
Redfearn v. Moore et al.
Publication Date: 2024-06-26Practice Area:Contracts |
Wrongful Death
Industry:Court: Georgia Court of AppealsJudge: Judge BrownAttorneys:For plaintiff: Laurie Daniel, Atlanta, John Smith, (Young Thagard Hoffman, Smith & Lawrence), Valdosta, Matthew Friedlander, (Webb Daniel Friedlander LLP), Atlanta, for appellant.For defendant: Ben Brodhead, Ashley Fournet, Michael Arndt, (Brodhead Law, LLC), Atlanta, Orlando Ojeda, (Ojeda Legal, LLC), Atlanta, Michael Terry, (Bondurant Mixson & Elmore), Atlanta, for appellee; David Atkinson, Sarah Daley, (Swift Currie McGhee & Hiers, LLP), Atlanta, for other party.Case number: A24A1028
Court affirms denial of motion to enforce a settlement agreement in a wrongful death action due to defendant's non-compliance with the strict terms of the offer