• Winfrey v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-08-15
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Grant
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Steven H. Sadow (Law Office of Steven Sadow), Atlanta; Matthew K. Winchester (Law Offices of Matthew K. Winchester), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Michael Scott Carlson, John Richard Edwards, D. Victor Reynolds, John Stuart Melvin (Cobb County District Attorney's Office), Marietta; Gregg M. Jacobson (King & Spalding LLP), Atlanta; Jeffrey Evan Gewirtz (Jeffrey Scott LLP), New York, for appellee.

    Case Number: S17G1270

    Trial Judge's Clearly Implied Threat Of Harsh Sentencing Constituted Improper Participation in Plea Negotiations

  • Wade v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-07-16
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Hunstein
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Matthew K. Winchester (Law Offices of Matthew K. Winchester), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Michael Alexander Oldham, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Anna Green Cross, Sherry Boston, Otobong U. Ekpo (DeKalb County District Attorneys Office), Decatur, for appellee.

    Case Number: S18A0327

    Although the evidence supported defendant's convictions for murder and related offenses arising out of the beating death of his girlfriend's 18-month-old son, the Court vacated his sentence and remanded for resentencing because the trial court erred in failing to merge certain counts.

  • In The Interest Of K.S., A Child.

    Publication Date: 2018-05-30
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Hunstein
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: James John Anagnostakis (Anagnostakis Law Group), Douglasville, for appellant.
    for defendant: Kristi Lee Winstead Wilson, Brian Keith Fortner, Sean Alexander Garrett (Douglas County District Attorney's Office), Douglasville, for appellee.

    Case Number: S17G1344

    Decisions Regarding Transfer of Juveniles to Superior Court Are Directly Appealable to Court of Appeals

  • Gibbs v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-05-09
    Practice Area: Criminal Appeals | Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Benham
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Forrest K. Shealy, Marietta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Michael Scott Carlson, Amelia Greeson Pray, D. Victor Reynolds, Jaret Teague Usher (Cobb County District Attorney's Office), Marietta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S17G1343

    The Court of Appeals properly affirmed the trial courts denial of defendant's motion for new trial based on ineffective assistance of counsel, as he could not show a reasonable probability that the outcome of the trial would have been different absent trial counsel's alleged deficiencies, in light of the strong evidence of his guilt.

  • Goodrum v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-04-26
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Grant
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Matthew K. Winchester (Law Offices of Matthew K. Winchester), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Meghan Hobbs Hill (Department of Law), Atlanta; Monique Lynn Kirby, Edward Andrew Case III (Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), LaGrange; Peter J. Skandalakis (Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia), Morrow, for appellee.

    Case Number: S17A1748

    Defendant Had No Constitutional Right to Be Present When Attorneys Met in Chambers With Judge to Discuss Juror's Qualification

  • Chrysler Group LLC n/k/a FCA US LLC v. Walden et al.

    Publication Date: 2018-04-25
    Practice Area: Damages | Wrongful Death
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Grant
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Terry Otho Brantley, Mary Diane Owens, Bradley S. Wolff (Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers, LLP), Atlanta; Thomas H. Dupree Jr., Rajiv Mohan (Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP), Washington, for appellant.
    for defendant: Karsten Bicknese, Robert Howard Betts (Seacrest, Karesh, Tate & Bicknese, LLP), Atlanta; James E. Butler Jr. (Butler, Wooten Cheely & Peak LLP), Atlanta; James Edward Butler III (Butler Tobin LLC), Atlanta; Cathy Cox (Mercer Law School), Macon; George C. Floyd (Floyd & Kendrick LLC), Bainbridge; Leigh Martin May (Butler, Wooten, Overby, Fryhofer), Atlanta; Michael Brian Terry, Frank Mitchell Lowrey IV (Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore, LLP), Atlanta; David Thomas Rohwedder (Butler Wooten & Peak LLP), Atlanta, for appellee. Michael Roger Boorman (Huff, Powell & Bailey, LLC), Atlanta; Brian David Boone, Kyle G.A. Wallace, Caroline M. Rawls, William Herman Jordan (Alston & Bird LLP), Atlanta; Christopher Randall Jordan (Hunter Maclean Exley & Dunn), Brunswick; Martin Adam Levinson (Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young LLP), Atlanta; Garret Warrington Meader (Drew ECKL & Farnham LLP), Brunswick; James Randolph Evans, Anthony Wyatt Morris (Dentons US LLP), Atlanta, for amicus appellant. Matthew Britt Stoddard (The Stoddard Firm), Atlanta, for amicus appellee. Therese S. Barnes (Georgia Supreme Court), Atlanta, for other party. Ashby K. Fox, Louis G. Fiorilla (Burr & Forman LLP), Atlanta; Forrest S. Latta (Burr & Forman LLP), Mobile; D. Victor Reynolds, John Stuart Melvin, Michael Scott Carlson, John Richard Edwards, Amelia Greeson Pray (Cobb County District Attorney's Office), Marietta, for neutral amicus.

    Case Number: S17G0832

    The Court of Appeals did not err in affirming the trial court's decision finding that the compensation of the CEO of a car manufacturing company was admissible in a wrongful death suit because the prejudicial effect of the evidence did not outweigh its probative value pursuant to Rule 403.

  • Goodrum v. The State

    Publication Date: 2018-03-09
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Grant
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Matthew K. Winchester (Law Offices of Matthew K. Winchester), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Meghan Hobbs Hill (Department of Law), Atlanta; Monique Lynn Kirby, Edward Andrew Case, III (Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), LaGrange; Peter J. Skandalakis (Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia), Morrow, for appellee.

    Case Number: S17A1748

    Defendant Had No Constitutional Right to Be Present When Attorneys Met in Chambers With Judge to Discuss Juror's Qualification

  • Glenn v. The State

    Publication Date: 2017-11-09
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Grant
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Matthew K. Winchester (Law Offices of Matthew K. Winchester), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Christopher M. Carr (Department of Law), Atlanta; Lenny I. Krick, Sherry Boston, Anna Green Cross (Dekalb County District Attorneys Office), Decatur; Harry Steven Ruth (Office of the District Attorney), Decatur, for appellee.

    Case Number: S17A0858

    The Court affirmed defendant's murder conviction, finding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in permitting lay witnesses to give testimony identifying defendant as one of the people in a surveillance video recording of the murder and robbery and the trial court did not err in denying defendant's motion to suppress evidence seized during the search of his sisters apartment.