Justia Constitutional Law Opinion Summaries

Appellant Tremaine Washington was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Robert Purcell. On appeal, Washington argued: (1) the trial court erred by merging, instead of vacating, the counts of felony murder and aggravated assault when sentencing him; (2) his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance; (3) the trial court violated his constitutional right to a trial by jury by allowing the jury to deliberate without all of the evidence; and (4) the trial court denied his constitutional right to be present during trial by conducting a hearing about sending exhibits to the jury room after he left the courtroom . Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Washington’s convictions. View "Washington v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Andrew Neloms was convicted of malice murder and other offenses in connection with the 2016 shooting death of Octavius Brooks. On appeal, Neloms argued: (1) the trial court failed to declare a mistrial sua sponte when an FBI agent testified regarding inadmissible evidence; (2) the trial court failed to conduct a “Faretta” hearing when Appellant declared that he wanted new attorneys; and (3) trial counsel rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance for failing to object to hearsay. Finding no error after its review, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Neloms v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Jemerius Goodman was convicted of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the 2017 death of Jyleel Solomon and the aggravated assaults of four other people. On appeal, Goodman argued the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his convictions, and that the trial court erred in admitting statements he made after invoking his right to remain silent. The Georgia Supreme Court concluded after its review that the evidence was sufficient, and Goodman ever unambiguously invoked his right to remain silent. Though the Court rejectd Goodman’s arguments and affirmed, it sua sponte vacated Goodman’s void sentence for obstructing his own prosecution and remanded the case for resentencing on that count. View "Goodman v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Tracy Smith appealed his conviction for felony murder in connection with the 2011 death of Jerome Walden. On appeal, Smith argued the trial court erred in overruling his special demurrer to the felony murder charge, and that the court erred in failing to grant a new trial on his claims of constitutionally ineffective assistance of trial counsel, based on counsel’s failure to (1) object to the verdict form and the trial court’s jury instruction on felony murder, which Smith contends allowed the jurors to render a potentially non-unanimous verdict; (2) file a general demurrer as to the felony murder count; and (3) file a plea in bar on the ground that Smith was not re -tried within the time period required by his statutory speedy trial demand. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Smith’s conviction. View "Smith v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Andreas Perkins was convicted by jury of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the 2014 shooting death of Randy Menefee. On appeal, Perkins argued: (1) the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his convictions for burglary and two counts of aggravated assault; (2) the trial court erred by denying Perkins’s motion for mistrial after a witness improperly made a reference to gangs ; (3) the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted five photos that allegedly implied that Perkins was involved in gang activity ; and (4) Perkins’s trial lawyer was constitutionally ineffective when he failed to request certain jury instructions. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Perkins v. Georgia" on Justia Law

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