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  • Gibson v. State

    Publication Date: 2011-03-11
    Practice Area:
    Industry:
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Steven L. Sparger, Savannah, for appellant.
    for defendant: Spencer Lawton Jr., Larry Chisolm, District Attorneys, and Julayaun M. Waters, Assistant District Attorney, Savannah, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Reggie A. Lampkin, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S10A1661

    The trial court reversibly erred in referring to the appellate process in its answer to a jury question during deliberations, since such statements intimated that the defendant was in fact guilty an

  • Evans v. State

    Publication Date: 2011-03-11
    Practice Area:
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Daniel B. Kane Daniel Kane & Assocs., Atlanta, and Gary W. Jones, Marietta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patrick H. Head, District Attorney, Ann B. Harris, Amelia G. Pray, John R. Edwards, Assistant District Attorneys, Marietta, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Sheila E. Gallow, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S10A2042

    The trial court did not err in admitting evidence of the lengthy manhunt for defendant because whether a defendant tried to evade capture is admissible as evidence of f

  • Evans v. State

    Publication Date: 2011-02-18
    Practice Area:
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Daniel B. Kane Daniel Kane & Assocs., Atlanta, and Gary W. Jones, Marietta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Patrick H. Head, District Attorney, Ann B. Harris, Amelia G. Pray, John R. Edwards, Assistant District Attorneys, Marietta, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Sheila E. Gallow, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S10A2042

    The trial court did not err in admitting evidence of the lengthy manhunt for defendant because whether a defendant tried to evade capture is admissible as evidence of f

  • Sharpe v. State

    Publication Date: 2011-02-04
    Practice Area:
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Steven L. Sparger, Savannah, for appellant.
    for defendant: Spencer Lawton Jr., District Attorney, Julayaun M. Waters, Assistant District Attorney, Savannah, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and David A. Zisook, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S10A1883

    The trial court's Allen charge did not improperly coerce the jury, as the jury deliberated for a considerable time after the trial court gave the instruction and reaffirmed its verdict when p

  • Fair v. State

    Publication Date: 2010-12-10
    Practice Area:
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Brian Steel The Steel Law Firm PC and Elizabeth V. Rogan, Atlanta, for Fair. Jeffrey L. Grube, Warner Robins, and James S. Stokes, Atlanta, for Jolly. Howard Z. Simms, District Attorney, Kimberly S. Schwartz, Assistant District Attorney, Garrison A. Wood District Attorney's Office, Macon, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Laura J. Murphree Prosecuting Attorneys' Council, Atlanta, for appellee.
    for defendant:
    Case Number: S10A1034; S10A1035

    O.C.G.A. § 17-10-30 b 8 does not require the defendant's knowledge that the victim was a peace officer to impose a death penalty on a defendant, who killed a peace officer conducting a no-knock wa

  • O'Neal v. State

    Publication Date: 2010-11-19
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Daniel F. Farnsworth W. Scott Smith PC, Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Gwendolyn K. Fleming, District Attorney, and Leonora Grant, Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney, Decatur, for appellee.
    Case Number: S10G0060

    Under O.C.G.A. § 17-8-75, the trial court has an independent duty to rebuke the prosecutor, give a curative instruction or grant a mistrial upon proper objection to the state's introduction of impro

  • Smith v. State

    Publication Date: 2010-11-19
    Practice Area:
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Edwin J. Wilson, Snellville, for Sonya Smith. Samuel J. Harris, Cookeville, Tenn., for Joseph Smith. Patrick H. Head, District Attorney, John R. Edwards, Eleanor A. Dixon, Assistant District Attorneys, Marietta, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, Mary Beth Westmoreland, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Jason C. Fisher, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    for defendant:
    Case Number: S10A1281; S10A1282

    The evidence authorized the jury to conclude that the defendants committed non-felony acts of abuse that inadvertently led to their son's death as well as felony acts which could serve as the underl

  • Jennings v. State

    Publication Date: 2010-11-12
    Practice Area:
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Samuel F. Little Jr. Little & Crumply LLP, Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Gwendolyn K. Fleming, District Attorney, Leonora Grant, Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney, Daniel J. Quinn, Assistant District Attorney, Decatur, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Benjamin H. Pierman, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S10A1089

    The state is not required to specify in the indictment that it is charging the defendant as a party to the

  • McKiernan v. State

    Publication Date: 2010-11-12
    Practice Area:
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Jennifer M. Daniels, Decatur, for appellant.
    for defendant: Daniel J. Porter, District Attorney, Jon W. Setzer, Assistant District Attorney, Lawrenceville, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Reggie A. Lampkin, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S10A1746

    Trial counsel reasonably and strategically decided that an incapacity de was not in the defendant's best interest, since it would contradict and undermine the defendant's accident de

  • Branchfield v. State

    Publication Date: 2010-10-15
    Practice Area:
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Nancy B. Miller and Victoria L. Novak Public Defender's Office, Columbus, for appellant.
    for defendant: Julia A. F. Slater, District Attorney, Kristy W. Dugan, Assistant District Attorney, Sadhana P. Dailey District Attorney's Office, Columbus, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, Mary B. Westmoreland, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Christopher R. Johnson, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S10A1201

    The defendant admitted planning the robbery, which led to the victim's