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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

  • 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 7, 2024 | Daily Report Online

    'Rule 403 Has Some Real Substance': Judge's Admission of Rap Video Leads to Reversal

    "Evidence is being abused when the judges don't put their foot down and say, 'this is too prejudicial,'" said Donald F. Samuel of Garland, Samuel & Loeb in Atlanta. "That's what Rule 403 is designed to do."

    8 minute read

  • Drennon v. The State

    Publication Date: 2022-11-15
    Practice Area: Constitutional Law | Criminal Appeals | Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Georgia Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Warren
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Amanda Rourk Clark Palmer, (Garland, Samuel & Loeb P.C.), Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Emily Rebecca Polk, (Department of Law), Atlanta, Fani T. Willis, Kevin Christopher Armstrong, Virginia Lee Davis, Elizabeth Rosenwasser, (Fulton County District Attorney’s Office), Atlanta, Leslie Anna Coots, (Cobb County District Attorney’s Office), Marietta, Lyndsey Hurst Rudder, Savannah, for appellee.
    Case Number: S22A0511

    Trial Court Record Not Adequate For Review of Appellant's Claim of Denial of Right to Be Present During All of Trial