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  • Hudson v. State

    Publication Date: 2016-02-26
    Practice Area:
    Industry:
    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Christopher Hudson, Waycross, proceeded pro se. Kenneth W. Mauldin, District Attorney, Brian V. Patterson, Chief Assistant District Attorney, Athens, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Patricia B. A. Burton, Deputy Attorney General, and Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    for defendant:
    Case Number: S16A0107

    The record belied the defendant's contentions that the trial court sentenced him on a malice murder conviction to life without parole in the absence of a finding of aggravating circumstances and tha

  • Robinson v. State

    Publication Date: 2016-02-12
    Practice Area:
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Steven L. Sparger, Savannah, for appellant.
    for defendant: Margaret E. Heap, District Attorney, Lyndsey H. Rudder, Assistant District Attorney, Savannah, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Patricia B. A. Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Aimee F. Sobhani, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S15A1912

    The evidence was sufficient to prove that the defendant was a party to the crime of attempted ro and that his actions were a proximate cause of his accomplice's death during that attempted ro

  • Gates v. State

    Publication Date: 2016-01-22
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Saraliene S. Durrett, Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Robert D. James Jr., District Attorney, Deborah D. Wellborn, Assistant District Attorney, Decatur, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Patricia B. A. Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Vicki S. Bass, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S15A1407

    The evidence, including two eyewitnesses' testimonies, supported the def 's convictions for malice murder and various other crimes in connection with the shooting death of a man who sent the de

  • Collymore v. State

    Publication Date: 2016-01-22
    Practice Area:
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Robert L. Mack Jr. Mack Harris PC, Forest Park, for appellant.
    for defendant: James L. Wright III, District Attorney, Blair D. Mahaffey, Assistant District Attorney, McDonough, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Patricia B. A. Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Elizabeth M. Haase, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S15A1509

    The trial court did not err in allowing the jury to use a yardstick and a ruler during its deliberations, since the yardstick and the ruler did not have the effect of introducing new evidence, they

  • Churchill v. State

    Publication Date: 2016-01-21
    Practice Area:
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: James M. Walker III, Tifton, for appellant.
    for defendant: Clifford P. Bowden, District Attorney, Tifton, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Patricia B. A. Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Aimee F. Sobhani, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S15A1487

    The trial court did not err in admitting photographs that depicted the 3-month-old victim after autopsy incisions, because the photographs were necessary to show a material fact—that the defendant p

  • Wright v. State

    Publication Date: 2015-11-23
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Jeffery J. Wright, Glennville, proceeded pro se. Denise D. Fachini, District Attorney, Bradford L. Rigby, Assistant District Attorney, Cordele, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Patricia B. A. Burton, Deputy Attorney General, and Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    for defendant:
    Case Number: S15A1589

    The defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea to felony murder was untimely and the trial court properly found that it was without jurisdiction to allow the withd

  • Higuera-Guiterrez v. State

    Publication Date: 2015-11-05
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Lauren B. Shubow, Public Defender, and Kenneth D. Kondritzer Public Defender's Office, Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Paul L. Howard Jr., District Attorney, Paige R. Whitaker, Deputy District Attorney, Arthur C. Walton, Assistant District Attorney, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Patricia B. A. Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Elizabeth M. Haase, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S15A0834

    The Court reversed the defendant's convictions for felony murder, voluntary manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic cocaine and possession of a firearm during the conspiracy to traffic cocaine, holding

  • Dixon v. State

    Publication Date: 2015-11-05
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Brian M. Condon and Margaret E. Heinen Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Paul L. Howard Jr., District Attorney, Paige R. Whitaker, Deputy District Attorney, Arthur C. Walton, Assistant District Attorney, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Patricia B. A. Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Michael A. Oldham, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S15A0836

    The evidence, although circumstantial, supported the defendant's convictions for felony murder, malice murder, voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possessio firearm during the commissi

  • Rutledge v. State

    Publication Date: 2015-11-04
    Practice Area:
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Margaret E. Heinen Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: Paul L. Howard Jr., District Attorney, Paige R. Whitaker, Deputy District Attorney, Sheila E. Gallow, Senior Assistant District Attorney, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Patricia B. A. Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Mary Catherine Greaber Attorney General's Office, Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S15A0739

    Independent evidence sufficiently corroborated a co-defendant's testimony about the defendant's involvement in the attempted robbery and murder of a customer of her escort se

  • Moore v. State

    Publication Date: 2015-10-22
    Practice Area:
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    Court: Supreme Court
    Judge: Melton, Harold D.
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Gregory D. Smith The Smith Group LLC, Atlanta, for appellant.
    for defendant: J. David Miller, District Attorney, Valdosta, Harriet M. Thomas, Assistant District Attorney, Moultrie, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Patricia B. A. Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Jason M. Rea, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.
    Case Number: S15A1211

    The trial court did not abuse its discretion in permitting a GBI agent, who was the primary investigator in the defendant's murder case, to sit at the prosecution table during trial despite the rule