Justia Constitutional Law Opinion Summaries

Articles Posted in Supreme Court of Georgia
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Geovanni Perez was convicted of felony murder and a firearm offense in connection with the 2018 shooting death of Rahmier Gardner. Perez contended on appeal: (1) that the evidence was constitutionally insufficient to support his conviction for felony murder based on armed robbery; (2) the trial court erred by denying his motions to suppress certain evidence; and that he was improperly sentenced. Seeing no error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Perez v. Georgia" on Justia Law

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Five University System of Georgia (“USG”) professors filed suit to block a 2017 statutory amendment that removed public colleges and other public postsecondary educational institutions from the statutory definition of “school safety zone.” Before the 2017 amendment, carrying or possessing a weapon on any real property or in any building owned by or leased to any postsecondary educational institution was a misdemeanor, and the 2017 amendment decriminalized that conduct. The professors alleged that, as a result of the 2017 amendment, the Code required the Board of Regents, the USG, and USG institutions to permit persons to carry or possess weapons on the campuses of public postsecondary educational institutions, contrary to longstanding USG policies. The professors sought a declaration that the statutory amendment was unconstitutional as applied because it usurped the Board’s constitutional authority to govern, control, and manage the USG and its member institutions. The trial court granted the State's motion to dismiss the complaint and denied the professors’ request for declaratory relief, ruling that the trial court lacked jurisdiction on three alternative grounds, including mootness. The Georgia Supreme Court found that because the complaint showed that the Board adopted gun-carrying policies consistent with the 2017 statutory amendment, the question of whether the amendment usurped the constitutional authority of the Board to govern, control, and manage the USG and its member institutions became moot. Consequently, the trial court lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate the professors’ as-applied challenge, and the judgment dismissing the professors’ complaint on that basis was affirmed. View "Knox v. Georgia" on Justia Law

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Appellant Dennaryl Head was convicted of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the 2006 shooting death of Dwight Smith. On appeal, Head contended that: (1) the evidence presented at trial was legally insufficient to sustain the verdict against him under former OCGA § 24-4-8; and (2) the trial court abused its discretion under former OCGA § 24-3-1 by admitting hearsay testimony from a police detective. The Georgia Supreme Court concluded that the evidence was sufficient under former OCGA § 24-4-8 because the testimony of Head’s accomplice was sufficiently corroborated. "And, pretermitting whether the trial court erred in admitting the challenged testimony," the Court concluded any error was harmless. View "Head v. Georgia" on Justia Law

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Appellant Garrett Davis was convicted of felony murder in connection with the 2012 shooting death of Eugene Stinchcomb. On appeal, Davis contended: (1) the evidence was legally insufficient to support his convictions; (2) his trial counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance; (3) the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on confession corroboration; and (4) the trial court erred by failing to grant a new trial based on prosecutorial misconduct. Finding no reversible error in the trial court's judgment, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Davis v. Georgia" on Justia Law

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Appellant Trevis Price was convicted by jury of malice murder and other offenses in connection with the deaths of L. C. Tumblin Jr. and Dexter Covin. On appeal, Price challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions for malice murder and the trial court’s denial of his motion to sever the charge for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Finding no reversible error in the trial court's judgment, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Price v. Georgia" on Justia Law

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In 2018, Mary Jackson and a nonprofit organization, Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere, Inc. (“ROSE”), filed a complaint against the Georgia Secretary of State challenging the constitutionality of the Georgia Lactation Consultant Practice Act (“the Act”), OCGA §§ 43-22A-1 to 43-22A-13. Under the Act, the Secretary issues licenses authorizing lactation care providers to provide lactation care and services for compensation. Only lactation care providers who obtain a privately issued certification as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (“IBCLC”) were eligible to obtain a license. Jackson and ROSE (collectively “Plaintiffs”) alleged their work included the provision of lactation care and services and that the Act was irrational and lacked any real and substantial connection to the public health, safety, or welfare because there was no evidence that non-IBCLC providers of lactation care and services ever harmed the public. They also contended the Act would require them to cease practicing their chosen profession, thus violating their rights to due process and equal protection under the Georgia Constitution. In the first round of this litigation, the trial court granted the Secretary’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, but the Georgia Supreme Court reversed and remanded with direction. Following remand, the Secretary withdrew his motion to dismiss, and the parties engaged in discovery and filed cross-motions for summary judgment. On the due process claim, the trial court granted the Secretary’s motion for summary judgment, and on the equal protection claim, the trial court granted Plaintiffs’ motion. The Secretary appealed, and Plaintiffs filed a cross-appeal. The Supreme Court concluded in the cross-appeal that the Act was unconstitutional on due process grounds and that the trial court therefore erred in granting summary judgment to the Secretary and denying it to Plaintiffs. Accordingly, the Court reversed the trial court on the due process claim and did not reach the equal protection claim raised in the main appeal. View "Raffensperger v. Jackson, et al." on Justia Law

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In 2007, Jeremy Moody was charged with the rape and murder of 13-year-old Chrisondra Kimble and the murder of Kimble’s 15-year-old cousin, Delarlonva Mattox, Jr., and other related offenses. Shortly after Moody’s jury trial began in April 2013, Moody pleaded guilty to two counts each of malice murder, felony murder predicated on aggravated assault, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with intent to rob, and kidnapping with bodily injury, as well as to one count of rape. At the conclusion of the sentencing phase, a jury found the existence of multiple statutory aggravating circumstances as to each murder and recommended a sentence of death for each murder, and the trial court sentenced Moody accordingly. On appeal, Moody raised thirteen claims of error, each of which the Georgia Supreme Court rejected, affirming the convictions and sentence. View "Moody v. Georgia" on Justia Law

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Appellant Dwight Blalock, Jr., was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the 2014 fatal shooting of Carlos Wright and the aggravated assault of Bryan Morrow. On appeal, Blalock contended: (1) the trial court abused its discretion and denied Blalock due process by refusing to grant his motion for continuance; (2) Blalock’s trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to argue that the discovery statute, OCGA § 17-16-4, was unconstitutional as applied in this case; and (3) the trial court erred in permitting a State’s witness to comment on Blalock’s silence. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Blalock’s convictions. View "Blalock v. Georgia" on Justia Law

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A habeas court granted relief to Jonathon Medina on the grounds that his guilty plea was involuntary and trial counsel was ineffective. Timothy Ward, the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Corrections, appealed the habeas court’s order, challenging each of those grounds. Because the Georgia Supreme Court concluded the habeas court did not err in granting relief to Medina on his involuntary-plea claim, and affirmed the habeas court’s decision on that ground without addressing that court’s rulings on Medina’s ineffective assistance claims. View "Ward v. Medina" on Justia Law

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In 2017, Erasmus Chandler was found guilty by jury of aggravated child molestation and two counts of child molestation. In 2019, the Court of Appeals affirmed his convictions in an unpublished opinion. Chandler later filed a pro se petition for habeas corpus, which the habeas court granted in 2022 on the ground that Chandler’s appellate counsel provided ineffective assistance at the motion for new trial stage and on appeal, including by failing to raise and prove claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Warden Aimee Smith appealed, arguing that the habeas court erred in admitting an exhibit at the habeas hearing and in determining that Chandler’s appellate counsel provided ineffective assistance. The Georgia Supreme Court found the the warden did not object to the admission of the challenged exhibit for the limited purpose for which it was admitted, and on appeal the warden has not shown plain error in its admission. Moreover, the habeas court properly determined that Chandler’s appellate counsel provided ineffective assistance at the motion for new trial stage and on appeal by failing to raise and prove a claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel for failing to impeach the alleged victim’s testimony at trial with evidence that she had made prior inconsistent statements about the alleged abuse. Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the habeas court’s grant of relief on this basis. View "Smith v. Chandler" on Justia Law