• White v. The State

    Publication Date: 2024-08-12
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Warren
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: David Russell Willingham, (Willingham Law Firm, P.C.), Marietta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Linda Jeanne Dunikoski, Flynn Duncan Broady, Jr., (Cobb County District Attorney’s Office), Marietta, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Faith Donnell Worley, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Christopher M. Carr, (Department of Law), Atlanta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S24A0333

    Court affirms convictions for malice murder and other crimes relating to the death of a three-year old disabled child

  • Collington v. Clayton County, et al.

    Publication Date: 2024-02-06
    Practice Area: Civil Procedure
    Industry: State and Local Government
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice LaGrua
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: John David Hadden, Darren Wade Penn, (Penn Law LLC), Atlanta, Benjamin Frederick Windham, (Ben F. Windham, P.C.), Locust Grove, Robert Walker Garrett, (Morgan & Morgan Atlanta, PLLC), Columbus, for appellant.
    for defendant: Jack R. Hancock, Arash Ali Sabzevari, Wes C. Jackson, Jacob Edward Daly, (Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP), Atlanta, for appellee; Charles Madden Cork, III, (LAW OFFICES OF CHARLES M. Cork, III), Decatur, for Amicus Appellant; Kellye C. Moore, (Walker Hulbert Gray & Moore, LLP), Perry, for Amicus Appellee; Daniel C. Prout, Jr., (Waldon Adelman Castilla McNamara & Prout), Atlanta, for Other Party.

    Case Number: S22G1146

    Court verifies that OCGA § 36-11-1 applies to official-capacity claims against county sheriffs, and rules that presenting the claim to a county governing authority satisfies the presentment requirement

  • Waters v. The State

    Publication Date: 2024-01-10
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice LaGrua
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Wendell Rocky Adams, (Office of the Public Defender), Dublin, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Christopher M. Carr, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Robert Brandon Faircloth, Louie Craig Fraser, (Dublin Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office), Dublin, for appellee.

    Case Number: S23A0893

    Court affirms felony murder conviction over defendant's claims of insufficient evidence and ineffective assistance of counsel as top a potential insanity defense

  • Regan v. The State

    Publication Date: 2023-12-06
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Colvin
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Gordon Clark Hall, Jr., (Law Office of Gordon Hall, LLC), La Fayette Melinda Faye Johnson, (Johnson Law Firm), Conyers, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Bailey Rachel Simkoff, Randal Matthew McGinley, (Alcovy Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office), Monroe, for appellee.

    Case Number: S23A0686

    Defendant's Sentence For Felony Child Molestation Violated Federal Equal Protection Rights

  • McCalop v. The State

    Publication Date: 2023-05-17
    Practice Area: Criminal Law | Evidence
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice LaGrua
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: J. M. Raffauf, (J. M. Raffauf P.C.), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Michael Alexander Oldham, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Deborah D. Wellborn, Sherry Boston, Ashley Cecelia O’Neal, (Dekalb County District Attorney’s Office), Decatur, for appellee.

    Case Number: S23A0210

    Defense Witness Opened Door to Presenting Evidence of Defendant's Bad Character

  • McCoy v. The State

    Publication Date: 2023-03-02
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice LaGrua
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Mark Allen Yurachek, (Yurachek & Associates, LLC), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Matthew Blackwell Crowder, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Fani T. Willis, Kevin Christopher Armstrong, Ruth M. Pawlak, (Fulton County District Attorney’s Office), Atlanta, Lyndsey Hurst Rudder, Savannah, Paul L. Howard, Jr., (Attorney at Law), Atlanta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S22A0970

    Court affirms convictions for felony murder and other crimes over defendant's challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence

  • Barnhill et al. v. Alford

    Publication Date: 2023-01-18
    Practice Area: Family Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice LaGrua
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: David Neil Marple, (Marple Rubin Family Law, LLC), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Melissa Davis Strickland, Malone Williams Allen, (Buckhead Family Law), Atlanta, Barry Phillip Schwarz, (Barry Phillip Schwarz, LLC), Atlanta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S22A1075

    Court affirms grandmother's standing to file a petition for visitation rights with a grandchild and agrees that grandparent visitation statute is constitutional

  • Jones v. The State

    Publication Date: 2022-10-13
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice LaGrua
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Barbara Mattes, (Barbara Mattes, Attorney at Law), Athens, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Eric Christopher Peters, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Joshua Bradley Smith, Jared Tolton Williams, (Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office), Augusta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S22A0548

    Court affirms felony murder and other convictions over defendant's challenges to admission of evidence, seating of a juror, limit on cross-examination, and cumulative error

  • The State v Burton

    Publication Date: 2022-10-11
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Warren
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Timothy Patrick Dean, Shalena Cook Jones, (Eastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office), Atlanta, Paula Khristian Smith, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Christopher M. Carr, (Department of Law), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Martin Gregory Hilliard, (Martin G. Hilliard PC), Savannah, for appellee.

    Case Number: S22A0684

    State Failed to Show 16-Year-Old Defendant Knowingly and Voluntarily Waived His Miranda Rights

  • The State v. Brown

    Publication Date: 2022-10-10
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Colvin
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Fani T. Willis, Juliana Sleeper, Elizabeth Rosenwasser, Kevin Christopher Armstrong, (Fulton County District Attorney’s Office), Atlanta, Lyndsey Hurst Rudder, Savannah, for appellant.
    for defendant: Keisha A Steed, (Office of the Metro Conflict Defender), Atlanta, James Gabriel Banks, (Banks Weaver LLC), Atlanta, for appellee.

    Case Number: S22A0463

    Court vacates ruling that a murder defendant was entitled to immunity and remands for further review of whether defendant carried his burden of proof