Justia Constitutional Law Opinion Summaries

Appellant Orville Francisco Cotto Rivera (a/k/a Anderson Jurkewicz) was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault in connection with the 2011 stabbing death of Neriton Souza Do Amaral. Rivera appealed the denial of his amended motion for new trial, arguing the trial court erred in admitting evidence of two previous incidents and trial counsel was ineffective. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Rivera v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Louis Porras was tried by jury and convicted of murder, as well as two crimes involving the unlawful possession of a firearm, all in connection with the killing of Jameelah Qureshi. Porras appealed, contending that the trial court erred when it charged the jury. Finding no harmful error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Porras v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Nancy Murphy and John Murphy divorced in 2006. In 2012, Mr. Murphy filed an action to modify the child custody provisions contained in the parties’ divorce decree. After the case was assigned to Judge Baldwin, Ms. Murphy moved to disqualify Judge Baldwin. Judge Baldwin denied the motion and Ms. Murphy filed a notice of appeal. The Court of Appeals dismissed Ms. Murphy’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction. It held that a legislative amendment to OCGA 5-6-34 (a) (11), which became effective on May 6, 2013, applied retroactively and barred the Court from hearing Ms. Murphy’s appeal. The version of OCGA 5-6-34 (a) (11) in effect when the change of custody action was filed, when the order at issue was entered, and when Ms. Murphy filed her appeal provided that a direct appeal was authorized from, "[a]ll judgments or orders in child custody cases including, but not limited to, awarding or refusing to change child custody or holding or declining to hold persons in contempt of such child custody judgment or orders." However, the 2013 legislative amendment to subsection (a) (11) provided for direct appeals only from, [a]ll judgments or orders in child custody cases awarding, refusing to change, or modifying child custody or holding or declining to hold persons in contempt of such child custody judgment or orders." Although the Supreme Court found the analysis of the Court of Appeals as "flawed," the Suprmee Court nevertheless affirmed its dismissal of the appeal. View "Murphy v. Murphy" on Justia Law

Kristin May was employed as a teacher at River Ridge High School, a public secondary school. In January 2011, May spoke with a former student, sixteen-year-old P. M., who no longer was enrolled as a student at River Ridge, and who recently had transferred to a school in the Fulton County School District. As they spoke, P. M. disclosed that she previously had a sexual relationship with Robert Morrow, a paraprofessional at River Ridge. May, however, did not make any report of the sexual abuse. When these circumstances later came to the attention of law enforcement, May was charged by accusation with a criminal violation of OCGA 19-7-5. May filed a demurrer and plea in bar, contending that the accusation charged no crime as a matter of law. When the trial court heard argument, the State and May stipulated to certain facts, namely that P. M. was no longer was a student at River Ridge when she spoke with May in 2011. Because P. M. was not then enrolled at River Ridge, May argued she had no duty under OCGA 19-7-5 (c) (1) to make a report. The trial court denied the demurrer and plea in bar, reasoning that a school teacher is required to report the abuse of any child, even one with whom the teacher has no relationship at all. After review, the Supreme Court concluded May had no legal obligation to report the sexual abuse, and the trial court erred when it sustained the accusation. View "May v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Donterrius Johnson was convicted of two counts of felony murder and related offenses in connection with the beating deaths of two victims in separate incidents in 2009. Johnson appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence, the admission of his videotaped police interview, and the sentence he received. Furthermore, he contended his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance. The Supreme Court agreed that Johnson was improperly sentenced on the two felonies underlying his felony murder convictions and vacated his sentences on Counts 2 and 5. In all other respects, the Court affirmed. View "Johnson v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Devarryl Batten was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Donald Driver. He appealed, arguing, inter alia, that the trial court erred in failing to grant his motion for new trial because the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Batten v. Georgia" on Justia Law

The issue this case presented to the Supreme Court centered on the superior court's validation of a $3.6 million bond, known as the Paulding County Airport Authority Revenue Bond. The Airport Authority and Silver Comet, a commercial aviation company leasing a large portion of the airport terminal for twenty years, entered into a separate agreement regarding the expansion of the airport taxiway. The agreement did not, eliminate the County's obligation to pay principal and interest on the issued bonds. The Airport Authority unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the issuance of the bond. This meeting occurred at the Airport Authority's regular meeting place and was open to the public. A portion of the meeting, however, was conducted in executive session. It appeared from the record that the bond was approved prior to the beginning of the executive session. At another meeting, the Airport Authority supplemented the bond proposal through a supplemental resolution and ratified all of its prior actions. Anthony Avery and Susan Wilkins (collectively Avery) were allowed to intervene and raise opposition to the bond. Among other things, Avery contended the bond violated both the Debt Clause and the Lending Clause of the Georgia Constitution. The trial court disagreed, and entered an order validating the bond. Avery appealed this ruling. But finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Avery v. Georgia" on Justia Law

David Lee Couch filed a tort lawsuit against the Georgia Department of Corrections. After the Department rejected Couch's offer to settle the case for $24,000, the case proceeded to trial, where the jury returned a verdict for Couch in the amount of $105,417. Based on Couch's 40% contingency fee agreement with his attorneys, the trial court ordered the Department to pay Couch $49,542 in attorney fees after appeal, including post-judgment interest, and litigation expenses, pursuant to the "offer of settlement" statute, OCGA 9-11-68 (b) (2). The Court of Appeals upheld that award. The Supreme Court then granted certiorari to address two questions: (1) whether the appellate court erred when it held that the sovereign immunity of the Department was waived by the Georgia Tort Claims Act as to Couch's attorney fees; and (2) if the sovereign immunity of the Department was waived as to Couch's attorney fees, did the Court of Appeals err by failing to prorate the contingency fee to reflect that some of the fees were incurred before the settlement offer was rejected. The Supreme Court held that the sovereign immunity of the Department was waived as to the attorney fees award under OCGA 9-11-68, but that the trial court did not properly calculate the amount of the award. The Court therefore affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings. View "Georgia Dept. of Corrections v. Couch" on Justia Law

In May 2000, appellant William Henderson pled guilty to two counts of murder and numerous other crimes. Appellant filed a pro se motion for an out-of-time appeal in June 2012, which the trial court denied. The Supreme Court affirmed that denial in April 2013. In August 2013, appellant filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea and a motion to recuse the trial judge, who was the same judge that had taken his guilty plea and denied his motion for out-of-time appeal. The trial court denied both motions in separate orders, and appellant filed a notice of appeal of both orders. Finding no error in either order, the Supreme Court affirmed both cases. View "Henderson v. Georgia" on Justia Law

When the police officer approached him and asked what was going on, appellant Robert Johnson stated, "She pissed me off, man." A rifle was found behind the back seat of appellant's SUV. After he was taken into custody and the interviewing officer read him his rights, appellant made other inculpatory statements, and the videotaped interview was played at trial. Appellant stated that the victim had picked at him all his life, that nothing he accomplished was ever good enough for her, and that on the morning of the shooting she had been calling him names. Appellant stated that when she started gathering her clothes to leave, he grabbed her by the neck and shook her. He admitted that upon hearing the victim claim she had called the police, he retrieved the rifle to scare her. He admitted he told her "I'm going to give you something to call the police for," and he claimed that as he went around the side of the van toward the victim [his wife], he stumbled and the gun "just went off." The victim died from a gunshot wound to her upper right chest. Appellant appealed his conviction and sentencing to life imprisonment for the felony murder of his wife. But finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Johnson v. Georgia" on Justia Law