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Capote v. The State

Publication Date: 2024-12-12
Practice Area: Criminal Appeals
Industry:
Court: Georgia Supreme Court
Judge: Justice Warren
Attorneys: For plaintiff: Brandon A. Bullard, Audra Murphey, (The Bullard Firm, LLC), Atlanta, Bruce Steven Harvey, (Law Offices of Bruce S. Harvey), Atlanta, for appellant.
for defendant: Patsy A. Austin-Gatson, John Williams, Christopher Mark DeNeve, (Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office), Lawrenceville, for appellee; Donald Franklin Samuel, (Garland, Samuel & Loeb, P.C.), Atlanta, Ashleigh Bartkus Merchant, (The Merchant Law Firm, P.C.), Marietta, for Amicus Appellant; Christopher M. Carr, Stephen John Petrany, (Department of Law), Atlanta, for Amicus Appellee.
Case Number: S23G1127

Court affirms Georgia's deferential "any evidence" standard for trial court findings in criminal appeals

Steel v. The State

Publication Date: 2024-11-22
Practice Area: Legal Operations
Industry: Legal Services
Court: Georgia Supreme Court
Judge: Presiding Justice Peterson
Attorneys: For plaintiff: Robert Alexander "Alex" Susor, (The Law Offices of Alex Susor, P.C.), Decatur, Colette Resnik Steel, (The Steel Law Firm, P.C.), Atlanta, Lynsey M Barron, (Barron Law LLC), Atlanta, Leigh Ann Webster, (Strickland Webster, LLC), Atlanta, Ashleigh Bartkus Merchant, (The Merchant Law Firm, P.C.), Marietta, for appellant.
for defendant: Christopher M. Carr, Patricia Beth Attaway Burton, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Clint Christopher Malcolm, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Kevin Christopher Armstrong, Fani T. Willis, (Fulton County District Attorney’s Office), Atlanta, for appellee; Ural D.L. Glanville, (Fulton County Superior Court), Atlanta, for other party; Hunter Joseph Rodgers, Smyrna, Mazie Lynn Guertin, (Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers), Decatur, Greg Allen Willis, Jessica Jones, (Willis Law Firm), Atlanta, Amanda Rourk Clark Palmer, (Garland, Samuel & Loeb P.C.), Atlanta, Edward Donald Tolley, (Cook & Tolley LLP), Athens, Donald Franklin Samuel, (Garland, Samuel & Loeb, P.C.), Atlanta, for Amicus Appellant.
Case Number: S24A1245

Court reverses contempt finding against attorney for failure to disclose source of information, citing due process violations and finding that the trial court judge should have recused himself

Wierson v. The State

Publication Date: 2024-08-01
Practice Area: Criminal Law
Industry:
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
Judge: Judge Brown
Attorneys: For plaintiff: Robert Rubin, (Peters, Rubin & Sheffield), Decatur, Kristen Novay, (Garland, Samuel and Loeb, P.C.), Atlanta, for appellant.
for defendant: Sherry Boston, Thomas Williams, (DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office), Decatur, for appellee; Justin Moore, (Aequitas Legal Services, LLC), Atlanta, Amanda Walker, (Office of the Public Defender, Eastern Judicial Circuit), Savannah, for AM.
Case Number: A24A0241

Court affirms ruling allowing insanity defense and reverses an order allowing evidence of compliance with prescription medication in a vehicular homicide case

Schmitt v. The State

Publication Date: 2024-05-27
Practice Area: Criminal Law
Industry:
Court: Georgia Supreme Court
Judge: Presiding Justice Peterson
Attorneys: For plaintiff: John Aspinwall Garland, Donald Franklin Samuel, Kristen Wright Novay, (Garland, Samuel & Loeb, P.C.), Atlanta, Matthew Kyle Winchester, (Law Offices of Matthew K. Winchester), Atlanta,for appellant.
for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Mary Catherine Norman, Elizabeth Haase Brock, Christopher M. Carr, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Fani T. Willis, Kevin Christopher Armstrong, Mario Kladis, (Fulton County District Attorney’s Office), Atlanta, for appellee.
Case Number: S24A0036

Court reverses convictions for malice murder and other crimes due to error in failing to instruct the jury on accident as a defense

Sconyers v. The State

Publication Date: 2024-05-27
Practice Area: Criminal Law
Industry:
Court: Georgia Supreme Court
Judge: Justice Ellington
Attorneys: For plaintiff: Donald Franklin Samuel, (Garland, Samuel & Loeb, P.C.), Atlanta, for appellant.
for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Matthew Blackwell Crowder, Christopher M. Carr, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Bobby Lee Christine, Kevin Richard Majeska, (Columbia Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office), Evans, for appellee.
Case Number: S24A0139

Court affirms convictions in child murder case over defendant's challenges to evidence, jury instructions, and witness impeachment

May 2, 2024 | Daily Report Online

Fulton County Judge's Failure to Instruct Jury Leads to Overturning of Former Atlanta Attorney's Murder Conviction

"[T]he harm from the trial court's failure to instruct the jury on the defense of accident was compounded by the trial court's express instruction that the jury must 'disregard' that accident was a key legal principle," Georgia Supreme Court Justice Nels Peterson said.

4 minute read

Baker v. The State

Publication Date: 2024-04-03
Practice Area: Criminal Law
Industry:
Court: Georgia Supreme Court
Judge: Justice Warren
Attorneys: For plaintiff: Donald Franklin Samuel, (Garland, Samuel & Loeb, P.C.), Atlanta, James Travis Griffin, (Hogue Hogue Fitzgerald & Griffin, LLP), Macon, for appellant.
for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Ashleigh Dene Headrick, (Department of Law), Atlanta, George Herbert Hartwig, Rodrigo L. Silva, William Marshall Kendall, (Houston County District Attorney's Office), Perry, for appellee.
Case Number: S23A0860

Court reverses malice murder conviction due to admission into evidence of a rap music video showing the defendant with a gun, which the court deemed to be more prejudicial than probative

March 13, 2024 | Daily Report Online

Ga. Appeals Court Overturns Convictions of former DeKalb Officer Who Fatally Shot Naked Man

The trial court was wrong to admit the policy into evidence without identifying and redacting the portions that conflict with Georgia law, state Court of Appeals Judge Brian Rickman wrote in a unanimous opinion Tuesday.

4 minute read

December 6, 2023 | Daily Report Online

'Right Call': Judge's Order Sparks Challenge, Postpones Tex McIver Retrial

"It seems pretty clear to me that it would be a violation of the double jeopardy clause to allow [the state] to argue something that they lost at the first trial," Donald F. Samuel told the Daily Report on Wednesday.

5 minute read

Favorito et al. v. Wan et al.

Publication Date: 2023-06-07
Practice Area: Election and Political Law | Government
Industry: State and Local Government
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
Judge: Presiding Judge McFadden
Attorneys: For plaintiff: Todd Harding, (Attorney at Law), Griffin, Paul Kunst, (Paul C. Kunst PC), Barnesville, for appellant.
for defendant: Amanda Clark Palmer, Donald Samuel, (Garland, Samuel & Loeb PC), Atlanta, for appellee; Robert Cheeley, (Cheeley Law Group LLC), Alpharetta, Preston Haliburton, (Haliburton Law Firm), Atlanta, Charles Joyner, (C. David Joyner, P.C.), Buford, Dominique Martinez, David Lowman, Cheryl Ringer, Steven Rosenberg, Kaye Burwell Francesca Black, (Office of the Fulton County Attorney), Atlanta, Charlene McGowan, (Office of the Attorney General), Atlanta, Gabrielle Holland, (Attorney at Law), Alpharetta, William Charles Bundren, (Bundren Law Group, PLLC), Frisco, for other party.
Case Number: A22A0939

Remand to Trial Court Necessary to Determine Plaintiffs' Standing to Sue County on Claims of Unlawful Dilution of Election Votes