| Synovus Bank d/b/a First Community Bank of Tifton v. Kelley |
| Docket: S20Q0843 Opinion Date: August 24, 2020 Judge: Carla Wong McMillian Areas of Law: Bankruptcy |
| The United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia certified two questions to the Georgia Supreme Court regarding the timing under Georgia law when a lien is created on the title of real property as between a judgment creditor and a judgment debtor: at the time the judgment is entered or at the time the writ of fieri facias on that judgment is recorded. "This timing makes a difference under federal bankruptcy law because certain transfers of the bankrupt debtor’s property may be avoided if they occur within 90 days of the filing of the bankruptcy petition." The Supreme Court responded to the district court that under Georgia law, as between the judgment creditor and judgment debtor, a lien on the title to real property is not created until the judgment is recorded, that the date of that lien is the date of recording, and the date of the lien does not relate back to the date the judgment was entered. |
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| Anderson v. Georgia |
| Docket: S20A0873 Opinion Date: August 24, 2020 Judge: Harold D. Melton Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law |
| Dexter Anderson was convicted by jury of the felony murder of his girlfriend, Charlotta Marie Lockhart, and for possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony. On appeal, Anderson contended, among other things: (1) that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for felony murder; (2) that he received an incomplete transcript of his trial proceedings; (3) that trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective; and (4) that the trial court erred by failing to charge the jury on the offense of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Finding no reversible error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. |
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| Brooks v. Georgia |
| Docket: S20A0895 Opinion Date: August 24, 2020 Judge: Boggs Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law |
| Deontae Tremayne Brooks was convicted of malice murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in connection with the shooting death of Branden “Big B” Tinch and the aggravated assault of Lenard Gay. Brooks was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. He appealed, arguing: (1) the insufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction under OCGA 16-11-133 (b); (2) ineffective assistance of counsel; and (3) trial court error in failing to grant his motion for mistrial. After review, the Georgia Supreme Court reversed Brooks’ conviction under OCGA § 16-11-133 (b), affirmed his convictions for malice murder and the aggravated assault of Gay, and remanded the case to the trial court with direction to enter a judgment of conviction and sentence on the guilty verdicts for possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon under OCGA 16-11- 131, which the trial court originally merged into the conviction under OCGA 16-11-133 (b). |
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| Campbell-Williams v. Georgia |
| Docket: S20A0642 Opinion Date: August 24, 2020 Judge: Bethel Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law |
| Tiquonda Raenell Campbell-Williams appeals her convictions for felony murder and aggravated assault in connection with the death of her boyfriend, Tyress Malcome. On appeal, Campbell-Williams argued the trial court committed plain error by failing to instruct the jury on proximate or intervening cause, and that her trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by not requesting these charges. Campbell-Williams also argued the trial court erred by admitting a deceased witness’s statements under OCGA 24-8-807. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed, finding the trial court did not commit plain error in failing to give the jury charges, Campbell-Williams did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel at trial, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting the witness’s statements. |
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| Clay v. Georgia |
| Docket: S20A0727 Opinion Date: August 24, 2020 Judge: Harold D. Melton Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law |
| James Rashad Clay was convicted by jury. Acting pro se, he appealed his convictions for malice murder and related offenses in connection with crimes committed against Rashonda Patterson and Joseph Emener. On appeal, Clay claimed numerous errors, but finding no reversible one, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed his convictions. |
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| Harris v. Georgia |
| Docket: S20A0855 Opinion Date: August 24, 2020 Judge: Carla Wong McMillian Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law |
| Robert Harris was convicted of malice murder and other offenses in connection with the fatal shooting of Kenneth Roberts and the assault of five other men. Harris was jointly indicted and tried with co-defendants Marcus Battle and Jacobey Carter. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Battle’s and Carter’s convictions in Battle v. Georgia, 804 SE2d 46 (2017). Here, Harris argued: (1) his trial counsel rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance for failing to object to certain testimony from the investigating detective, (2) his motion-for-new trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to raise a "Brady" claim and in not asserting a due process violation because Harris’s conviction rests, in part, on false evidence. Harris also argued (3) the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion for continuance and committed a merger error at sentencing. Although the Supreme Court concluded the trial court erred in sentencing Harris for aggravated assault under Count 5, it otherwise affirmed. |
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| Hodges v. Georgia |
| Docket: S20A0709 Opinion Date: August 24, 2020 Judge: Harold D. Melton Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law |
| Victor Hodges was convicted by jury of malice murder, robbery, and other offenses in connection with the death of Julie Mae Simpson. On appeal, Hodges contended only that the trial court employed an incorrect legal standard when it denied his motion for new trial on the general grounds. Finding no such error, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. |
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| Kim v. Georgia |
| Docket: S20A0865 Opinion Date: August 24, 2020 Judge: Harold D. Melton Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law |
| Ki Song Kim appealed his convictions for murder and other offenses in connection with the stabbing deaths of Young Chan Choi and Sun Hee Choi. In his sole enumeration of error, Kim claimed that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his convictions. After review, the Georgia Supreme Court concluded the evidence was sufficient to sustain Kim’s convictions. However, the Court also concluded it had to vacate Kim’s sentences as to Counts 9 and 10 of his indictment in order to correct sentencing errors that harmed Kim. |
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| Perry v. Georgia |
| Docket: S20A0863 Opinion Date: August 24, 2020 Judge: Keith R. Blackwell Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law |
| Kyle Diamond Luke Perry pleaded guilty to the murder of Jeremias Ortiz and other crimes. The trial court accepted Perry’s plea and imposed sentence, including a sentence of imprisonment for life for the murder. Several years later, Perry filed a motion for an out-of-time appeal, which the trial court granted. Perry then filed a timely notice of appeal, and before the Georgia Supreme Court, he claimed his plea was not entered freely and voluntarily. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. |
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| Reeves v. Georgia |
| Docket: S20A1005 Opinion Date: August 24, 2020 Judge: Carla Wong McMillian Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law |
| Appellant Kevin Reeves challenged his convictions for the malice murder of Marquis Stephens and numerous other crimes, all committed in connection with a gunfight at a house party in 2015. His motion for a new trial was denied. On appeal, Reeves argued the trial court violated his Georgia constitutional right to be present by excluding him from several bench conferences and, relatedly, that trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective by failing to object to Reeves’s exclusion from the bench conferences. Although the Georgia Supreme Court concluded that the trial court erred in failing to merge six of the counts of aggravated assault of which Reeves was convicted with six of the counts of attempted armed robbery, it otherwise affirmed Reeves’s convictions. |
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| Roberts v. Georgia |
| Docket: S20A0988 Opinion Date: August 24, 2020 Judge: Warren Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law |
| Appellant Deanna Roberts pled guilty in federal court to a crime relating to the theft of a medical product, liquid silicone, that Roberts injected into the buttocks of Lateasha Hall, resulting in Hall’s death. When she was later indicted for state crimes arising from Hall’s death, including malice murder, Roberts filed a plea of statutory double jeopardy in superior court, contending that under OCGA 16-1-8 (c), her conviction in federal court barred the state prosecution for all crimes except malice murder. The trial court rejected that claim, and Roberts filed a direct appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court. Because one of the statutory requirements for the section 16-1-8 (c) bar to apply was not satisfied here, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of Roberts’s plea in bar. |
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| Studivant v. Georgia |
| Docket: S20A1024 Opinion Date: August 24, 2020 Judge: Keith R. Blackwell Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law |
| Marquis Studivant was tried by jury and convicted of murder and other crimes in connection with the fatal shooting of Dennis Gayton. Studivant appealed, arguing: (1) the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions; (2) the trial court erred when it denied his motion to suppress evidence that was collected from a vehicle he was driving around the time of his arrest; and (3) that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. Upon review of the record and briefs, the Georgia Supreme Court found no reversible error and affirmed. |
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