Justia Constitutional Law Opinion Summaries

After his conviction on charges of malice murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony related to the shooting death of Christopher Copeland, appellant Matthew Mitchell was sentenced to life in prison. The trial court denied his motion for new trial. On appeal to the Supreme Court, appellant argued the court erred by redacting portions of his statements to police, intimating an opinion as to his guilt in front of the jury, and exiting the courtroom during a critical stage of the proceedings. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Mitchell v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Defendants Pike County, its county manager, and members of its board of commissioners (collectively, "County") appealed a superior court's grant of summary judgment to plaintiff Marcia Callaway-Ingram, who was appointed Chief Magistrate of Pike County. Callaway-Ingram filed suit seeking, inter alia, a writ of mandamus and a permanent injunction in this dispute involving her salary and the funding and operation of the magistrate court. Finding no error in the superior court's judgment, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Pike County v. Callaway-Ingram" on Justia Law

Appellant Dominic Trent Stacey was convicted and sentenced for malice murder, theft by receiving, possession of cocaine, and other crimes following the shooting death of Andrew Gibby. On appeal to the Supreme Court, appellant argued, inter alia, that the evidence was insufficient to support the convictions for theft by receiving and possession of cocaine. Upon review, the Supreme Court found that the evidence was sufficient to affirm the conviction for possession of cocaine but reversed the conviction for theft by receiving. View "Stacey v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Taron Maurice Williams was tried by jury and convicted of the murder of Aljene Flannings and other crimes related to the unlawful possession of a firearm. Following the denial of his motion for new trial, Williams appealed, arguing that the trial court erred when it limited his cross-examination of a prosecution witness about another case in which the witness had been charged with armed robbery but had been allowed to plead guilty to a lesser included offense. Williams also claims that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. Upon review of the briefs and trial court record, the Supreme Court found no error, and affirmed. View "Williams v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Jimmy Wayne Wright entered a guilty plea to the malice murders of James William Jackson and Tina Michelle McAdams and was sentenced to life without parole. He filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, contending that he was coerced into entering the plea and his trial counsel were ineffective for failing to properly investigate the case. Because the trial court properly ruled that Wright made an intelligent, knowing, and voluntary plea of guilty and failed to show ineffective assistance of trial counsel, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Wright v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Derrick Yancey was tried by jury and convicted of the murder of his wife, Lynda Yancey, the murder of a day laborer whom Appellant had employed, Marcial Puluc, and the unlawful possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. On appeal, Appellant contended that the trial court erred when it admitted testimony at trial and allowed the prosecuting attorney to make arguments in summation that referred to Appellant having exercised his right to remain silent, that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel to the extent that his lawyers failed to object to such testimony and argument, and that the trial court erred when it refused at a hearing on his motion for new trial to hear expert testimony that he offered in support of another claim of ineffective assistance. Upon review of the record and briefs, the Supreme Court saw no error and affirmed. View "Yancey v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Marcus Fennell was convicted of two counts of malice murder, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the shooting deaths of Andrew Coleman and Martial Washington. On appeal to the Supreme Court, Appellant argued various grounds on the denial of his motion for new trial. Finding no merit to these assertions, the Supreme Court affirmed his conviction. View "Fennell v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In 2010, a jury found appellant Fredrick Choisnet, Jr. guilty but mentally ill of the malice murder of his father and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime. He appealed the denial of his amended motion for new trial contending, among other things, that the trial court applied an erroneous legal standard in ruling on the amended motion. Both the District Attorney and the Attorney General agreed with appellant that the case should have been remanded to the trial court for application of the appropriate legal standard to appellant’s amended motion for new trial. The Supreme Court agreed with the parties' assessment, and vacated appellant's conviction and remanded the case back to the trial court. View "Choisnet v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Jerome Burgess was convicted as a party to the crime of felony murder, six counts of aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Appellant challenged the sufficiency of the evidence presented against him at trial. Finding the evidence sufficient to sustain his conviction, the Supreme Court affirmed Appellant's conviction. View "Burgess v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In 2008, Denis Rogers was found shot in the head in the passenger seat of Edwin Wynn's car. He died four days later as a result of that injury. Appellant Courtney Thornton was convicted of and sentenced for the malice murder of Rogers, the armed robbery of Wynn, theft by receiving a gun stolen in 2005 from a car in Rockdale County, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and, in a bifurcated proceeding, possession of a firearm as a convicted felon. Thornton appealed his convictions to the Supreme Court, but after review of the trial court record, the Supreme Court affirmed all but the theft by receiving conviction. View "Thornton v. Georgia" on Justia Law