Justia Constitutional Law Opinion Summaries

Jordan Harris appealed his convictions for felony murder and other charges stemming from the July 2010 shooting of Walter Phelps during the robbery of Phelps’s store; Phelps died from blood clots over a month after the shooting. Harris argued: (1) the evidence presented at his trial was insufficient to support his convictions; and (2) the trial court erred by admitting other –acts evidence, unreliable identifications of him, evidence marred by violations of Brady and Georgia’s criminal discovery statute, and inadmissible hearsay. The Georgia Supreme Court found the evidence sufficient, there was no abuse of the trial court’s discretion in admitting the other-acts evidence, there was not a showing of a Brady violation (and the claim was waived under the discovery statute), and any error admitting hearsay was harmless. View "Harris v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Francisco Palencia was convicted of several offenses arising from a home invasion and sexual assault of V. M. Palencia appealed his convictions to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed. Palencia thereafter filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to the Georgia Supreme Court, arguing that the Court of Appeals erred by determining that the trial court did not plainly err by failing to charge the jury on the requirement under OCGA 24-14-8 that accomplice testimony be corroborated. After review, the Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeals incorrectly distinguished the Supreme Court’s binding precedent in reaching its decision. Accordingly, the Court granted Palencia’s petition for certiorari, reversed in part the Court of Appeals’ judgment, and remanded this case to the appellate court for further proceedings. View "Palencia v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant David Renfro challenges his 2019 convictions for malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Rita Hennon. Appealing his conviction and sentence, Renfro argued the trial court erred in admitting his pre-arrest statements to police because he was allegedly under custodial interrogation and had not yet received Miranda warnings. Finding that any error in admitting Renfro’s statement was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Renfro v. Georgia" on Justia Law

The Georgia Supreme Court granted Gregory Davenport’s application for a certificate of probable cause to appeal the denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Davenport asked whether the habeas court erred in finding that a count of aggravated assault predicated on the use of a deadly weapon did not merge with his conviction for armed robbery. The Georgia Supreme Court concluded that the habeas court indeed erred with respect to that question, and reversed judgment in part. View "Davenport v. Ward" on Justia Law

Appellant Kaovion Dickey challenged his convictions for malice murder and other crimes in connection with the 2018 shooting death of Tony McGowan and the shooting of Mikeem Jackson. Appellant’s sole enumeration of error was that the evidence was legally insufficient to support his convictions. The Georgia Supreme Court found the evidence was sufficient for the jury to conclude that Appellant was guilty, so judgment was affirmed. View "Dickey v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Following the Georgia Supreme Court’s grant of his application for discretionary appeal, Donnel Rawls appealed the trial court’s denial of his motion seeking a copy of his trial transcripts at public expense. Based on the Supreme Court’s review of the record, the parties’ briefs, and the representations of counsel at oral argument, Rawls obtained the relief he sought. Rawls’s appeal therefore became moot and was therefore dismissed. View "Rawls v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Jared Smith was convicted of malice murder and theft by taking in connection with the 2018 stabbing death of Ronald Roach. Smith’s sole contention on appeal was that the trial court erred in allowing the medical examiner to provide expert opinion testimony about blood-spatter evidence depicted in photographs of the crime scene. Seeing no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Smith v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Robert Price, III was convicted of malice murder and other offenses in connection with the shooting death of Ronnie Cantrell, Sr., and the non- fatal shooting of Ronnie Cantrell, Jr. Price’s sole contention on appeal was that the trial court erred by failing to merge his convictions for aggravated assault and aggravated battery committed against Cantrell Junior because the underlying acts occurred in quick succession and arose out of the same transaction. Although the Georgia Supreme Court found some evidence to support Price’s argument, there was also evidence to support the trial court’s factual finding that the acts were separated by sufficient time to constitute a deliberate interval. “The existence of a deliberate interval dooms Price’s argument.” Accordingly, judgment was affirmed. View "Price v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Kevon Watkins was convicted in a bench trial for felony murder in connection with the death of his sister, Alexus. On appeal, Watkins argued the trial court erred in declining to find him guilty of voluntary manslaughter instead of felony murder. After review of the trial court record, the Georgia Supreme Court found no reversible error and affirmed the judgment of conviction. View "Watkins v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In November 2013, defendant entered a negotiated plea of guilty to felony murder and armed robbery, based on which the trial court entered a judgment of conviction and sentenced her to life in prison with the possibility of parole for felony murder and a concurrent 20-year term in prison for armed robbery. She did not file a timely appeal, but more than six years later, she filed a motion for out-of-time appeal, contending that she was deprived of her right to appeal because of her plea counsel’s ineffective assistance. After a hearing, the trial court denied defendant's motion for out-of-time appeal on the merits, and she timely appealed that decision. In this case, the Georgia Supreme Court examined the difficult question of whether it should overrule precedent allowing a criminal defendant who alleges she was unconstitutionally deprived of her appeal as of right to file a motion for out-of-time appeal in the trial court, as opposed to seeking a writ of habeas corpus as an exclusive remedy. After explaining the underpinnings of the precedent and engaging in an exhaustive stare decisis analysis, the Supreme Court concluded the trial court out-of-time appeal procedure was not a legally cognizable vehicle for a convicted defendant to seek relief for alleged constitutional violations. View "Cook v. Georgia" on Justia Law