Justia Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

Defendant Daniel Sosa filed a petition for the writ of habeas corpus, contending that his attorney was ineffective for failing to advise him that his guilty plea would subject him to removal or deportation. The State moved to dismiss the petition as untimely. The habeas court denied the motion and granted habeas relief on the ground that Defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel at his plea hearing in 2002. However after its review, the Supreme Court concluded that Defendant's habeas petition was untimely under the four-year statute of limitations in OCGA 9-14-42, and reversed. View "Georgia v. Sosa" on Justia Law

Appellant Zyderrious Platt was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, feticide, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm for the October 2009 shooting death of his pregnant wife Jelani Platt. Appellant contended on appeal that the evidence was insufficient to authorize the jury to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was convicted. Finding the evidence sufficient to support his conviction, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Platt v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Following a jury trial, Defendant Dwight Simmons appealed his conviction for malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, theft by taking, possession of a firearm during commission of a crime, and possession of a knife during commission of a crime, contending, among other things, that the trial court made numerous evidentiary errors and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Finding that none of the alleged errors Defendant raised on appeal had merit, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Simmons v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Travis Wilcher was convicted of murder, armed robbery, and related crimes in connection with the 2007 shooting death of Tollie Mitchell. Appellant appealed the denial of his motion for new trial, asserting insufficiency of the evidence, evidentiary error, and error in the jury charge. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Wilcher v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Appellant Christopher Young was tried and convicted with his codefendant, Patrick Satterfield, for the 2008 felony murder and armed robbery of Richard Boynton, Sr., the burglary of the Boynton home, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Young, who was also convicted of misdemeanor possession of marijuana, appealed the judgment entered on the convictions. Specifically, Appellant challenged the sufficiency of the evidence admitted at trial to convict him. Furthermore, he contended the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the State to re-open its case and present testimony of two witnesses after it had rested, and in denying his motion in limine to redact from the testimony of the victim's neighbor all references to Appellant. Finding no abuse of discretion, and that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support his conviction, the Supreme Court affirmed with respect to those issues. However, because Appellant's burglary conviction served as the predicate felony for the felony murder conviction, the Court held it was error to sentence appellant for both felony murder and burglary. Accordingly, the Court vacated the separate judgment of conviction and sentence for burglary, and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Young v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Johnny Johnson appealed his convictions for malice murder and possession of a firearm by a first offender probationer, both in connection with the death of Deandre Phillips. Finding no merit to the alleged errors Johnson raised on appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed his convictions. View "Johnson v. Georgia" on Justia Law

A jury convicted Stacey O. Lanham of the stabbing death of Gerald Mutcherson in connection with a drug deal. At trial, Lanham admitted killing Mutcherson, but claimed it was in self defense. On appeal, Lanham contended that the State failed to establish venue and the trial court failed to instruct the jury on the burden of proof for venue. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Lanham v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Defendant Donavon Shane Leger appealed his convictions for malice murder and aggravated battery in connection with the death of his estranged wife, Tracy Leger. He contended that in three instances the State violated the requirements of the reciprocal discovery rules and that this should have resulted in the exclusion of the evidence at issue. Finding Defendant's arguments of error to be without merit, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Leger v. Georgia" on Justia Law

In 2000, appellant David Leverette entered guilty pleas to charges arising from the malice murder of his wife and was sentenced to life imprisonment plus several terms of years to be served concurrently with each other and with the life sentence. In June 2011, appellant filed a motion for out-of-time appeal, which the trial court denied after holding a hearing. Appellant appealed the denial of that motion. Finding no abuse of the trial court's discretion in denying Appellant's motion, the Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence. View "Leverette v. Georgia" on Justia Law

Following a jury trial, Tinos Santana McBride was found guilty of malice murder and various other offenses in connection with the shooting death of Jessie Strickland. On appeal, McBride contended that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress and by prohibiting him from introducing certain evidence at trial. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "McBride v. Georgia" on Justia Law