• Kirkland v. The State

    Publication Date: 2024-03-21
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Ellington
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Jacob Dennis Rhein, (Law Offices of Jacob D. Rhein), Lawrenceville, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Christopher M. Carr, Eric Christopher Peters, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Fani T. Willis, Kevin Christopher Armstrong, Alex Martin Bernick, (Fulton County District Attorney’s Office), Atlanta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S23A0942

    Court affirms murder convictions in arson-related deaths over defendants' challenges to sufficiency and admission of evidence, alleged trial court errors, and contentions of ineffective assistance of counsel

  • Adams v. The State

    Publication Date: 2024-02-09
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Ellington
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: David Allen Hoort, Frances C. Kuo, (Georgia Public Defender Council), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Fani T. Willis, Kevin Christopher Armstrong, (Fulton County District Attorney’s Office), Atlanta, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Eric Christopher Peters, (Department of Law), Atlanta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S23A1207

    Court affirms convictions for malice murder over defendant's challenges to sufficiency of the evidence, and contentions of evidentiary error and ineffective assistance of counsel

  • Adams v. The State

    Publication Date: 2023-10-11
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Ellington
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Stephen Randall Scarborough, (Office of the Public Defender), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Ashleigh Dene Headrick, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Fani T. Willis, Kevin Christopher Armstrong, (Fulton County District Attorney's Office), Atlanta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S23A0758

    Court affirms convictions for malice murder and other crimes over defendant's contentions of insufficient evidence and ineffective assistance of counsel

  • Burley v. The State

    Publication Date: 2023-06-26
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Ellington
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Brian Steel, (The Steel Law Firm, P.C.), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Alex Martin Bernick, (Fulton County District Attorney’s Office), Atlanta, Joseph Kenneth Mulholland, Banks Thomas Smith, Sr., Moruf O. Oseni, (South Georgia Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office), Bainbridge, for appellee.

    Case Number: S23A0322

    Court affirms felony murder conviction over defendant's contention that the trial court erred by not instructing the jury on malice murder

  • Caviston v. The State

    Publication Date: 2023-01-17
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Ellington
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: William Davis Hewitt, (The Appellate Division - Georgia Public Defender), Savannah, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Emily Rebecca Polk, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Joshua Bradley Smith, (Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office), Augusta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S22A1040

    Court affirms convictions for malice murder and arson over defendant's contentions of trial court error on general ground and improper admission of certain evidence

  • Cook v. The State

    Publication Date: 2022-04-14
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Appeals | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Warren
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Deborah Lorraine Leslie, (The Leslie Group, LLC), Jonesboro, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Ross Warren Bergethon, William Wright Banks, Jr, Ashleigh Dene Headrick, Stephen John Petrany, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Oliver Jackson Browning, Jr., (Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Cedartown, for appellee; Jill Anderson Travis, (Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers), Decatur, Brandon A. Bullard, (The Bullard Firm, LLC), Atlanta, Greg Allen Willis, (Willis Law Firm), Atlanta, Joseph Scott Key, (Miller & Key, PA), McDonough, Peter J. Skandalakis, Robert Wright Smith, Jr., (Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia), Morrow, James C. Bonner, Jr., (Georgia Public Defender Council), Atlanta, for Neutral Amicus.

    Case Number: S21A1270

    Criminal Defendant Alleging Deprivation of Right of Appeal Due to Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Must Seek Habeas Relief

  • Ellis v. The State

    Publication Date: 2021-09-02
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
    Judge: Justice Ellington
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Jerry W. Chappell, II, Roswell, for Appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Ashleigh Dene Headrick, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Christopher Allen Arnt, Lynsay Peardon Chapman, (Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Lafayette, for Appellee.

    Case Number: S21A0780

    Court affirms malice murder conviction over defendant's contentions that his Miranda waiver was improper due to intoxication, and ineffective assistance of counsel

  • Kitchens v. The State

    Publication Date: 2021-02-19
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Ellington
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Aaron Scott Palmer, (Middle Judicial Circuit Public Defender's Office), Swainsboro, for appellant.
    for defendant: Samuel Howard Altman, Kelly J. Weathers, (Middle Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office), Swainsboro, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Eric Christopher Peters, (Department of Law), Atlanta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S20A1230

    Any Error in Admitting Hearsay Evidence Was Harmless in Light of Other Strong Evidence Against Defendant

  • Carson v. The State

    Publication Date: 2020-06-19
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Ellington
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Viveca Burns Famber, (Viveca R. Famber Powell, Attorney at Law), Austell, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Alex Martin Bernick, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Paul L. Howard, Jr., Lyndsey Hurst Rudder, Lyndsey Hurst Rudder, (Fulton County District Attorney's Office), Atlanta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S20A0288

    Severance Not Necessary For Charges That Were Not Joined Solely Because of Same or Similar Character

  • Barrow v. Raffensperger

    Publication Date: 2020-06-15
    Practice Area: Court Administration | Government
    Industry: State and Local Government
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Presiding Justice Nahmias
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Wade H. Tomlinson, III, Charles W. Byrd, George "Buddy" Darden, Michael Jonathan Moore, Michael P Morrill, Elizabeth Studdard White, (Pope, McGlamry, Kilpatrick, Morrison & Norwood), Atlanta, S. Lester Tate, III, (Akin & Tate, PC), Cartersville, for appellant.
    for defendant: Elizabeth T. Young, Russell David Willard, Andrew Alan Pinson, Christopher M. Carr, Bryan Keith Webb, Elizabeth Ann Penland, (Department of Law), Atlanta, for appellee. Joyce Gist Lewis, Adam Martin Sparks, (Krevolin Horst, LLC), Atlanta, Monica Joy Hanrahan, (Hanrahan Freitag Family Law, LLC), Atlanta, for Amicus Appellant.

    Case Number: S20A1029

    Secretary of State Could Not be Compelled to Hold Election in May For Position of Supreme Court Justice Whose Prospective Resignation In November Was Irrevocable