The Supreme Court has granted two petitions for certiorari and one application for discretionary appeal so far this month. Below is an overview of each case Bunn v. State In its Order granting Cert., from September 6, 2011, the Court notes that it is particularly concerned with the following issue: Does the Child Hearsay Statute… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Supreme Court of Georgia
Subscribe to Supreme Court of Georgia RSS FeedVideo Arraignments are a Step in the Right Direction
Posted in Attorney-Client Relationship, Motion for New Trial, Oral Argument, State Habeas Corpus, Supreme Court of Georgia, UncategorizedAbove the Law has a good recent post on the use of video arraignments and how judges find that the process makes them feel safer. I don’t know whether video Arraignments make the process any safer or not. But the process certainly makes the process more efficient. In fact, many of the rituals of court… Continue Reading
Lessons I Learned from This Month’s Appellate Losses
Posted in Georgia Court of Appeals, Supreme Court of Georgia, UncategorizedIt’s been a bad month for my most recent crop of Supreme Court cases, both in terms of cases where I represent the party and in cases where I am amicus counsel. But I try to learn from them all. And here’s my takeaway from the month. To have and cite a case is not… Continue Reading
Uniform Rule on Electronic Court Filing: A Step in the Right Direction For Georgia
Posted in News, Supreme Court of Georgia, WritingYesterday, I noticed that there is a proposed rule from the State Bar of Georgia to provide for electronic filing in Georgia courts. Of course, it’s just a proposed rule (PDF). And what comes of it may be simply a model rule for trial courts to follow if they choose to allow electronic filing. But… Continue Reading
E-Filing is the Talk of the Georgia Bar Meeting
Posted in News, Record on Appeal, Supreme Court of GeorgiaTwo days at the annual meeting of the State Bar of Georgia in Myrtle Beach have given me enough material for a week of blogging. For today, the big news is that the Supreme Court will mandate e-filing for all attorneys before the end of the summer and will create a system for submission of… Continue Reading
How Much Longer Before The Georgia Appellate Court Rules?
Posted in Attorney-Client Relationship, Georgia Court of Appeals, Oral Argument, Supreme Court of GeorgiaAs a father of three children (one still in a car seat and one in a booster) and as an appeals lawyer in Georgia, I get two recurring and related questions. From the children, on car trips, I frequently hear, “Are we there yet?” From my clients and their families, I frequently hear, “when will… Continue Reading
Is the Exclusionary Rule the New Hot Appellate Issue in Georgia?
Posted in News, Supreme Court of GeorgiaIf any case qualifies as an old chestnut, it would be Mapp v. Ohio, the landmark case that provided that evidence gathered in violation of a suspect’s Fourth Amendment rights should be excluded from use at trial. Restricting the use of illegally-gathered evidence is the punishment for the illegal conduct. If there’s a case that… Continue Reading
Georgia Appeals Court Rules “Mandate Ugliness”
Posted in Georgia Court of Appeals, Supreme Court of Georgia, WritingIn his blog yesterday, Kendall Gray referenced the Rules of the Georgia Court of Appeals, citing it as “a jurisdiction with rule-mandated ugliness.” Kendall’s blog post comes at a time when I am reading Typography for Lawyers by William Butterick. I’ve learned a great deal about fonts and layout and was all excited about using… Continue Reading
Nahmias and McFadden Win Election to Georgia Supreme Court and Georgia Court of Appeals
Posted in Georgia Court of Appeals, News, Supreme Court of GeorgiaJustice David Nahmias and Judge-Elect Christopher McFadden have been elected respectively to the Supreme Court of Georgia and Georgia Court of Appeals. Both won by wide margins. Georgia votes made the right choice in both elections. Justice Nahmias is likely to continue to do excellent work on the Court. I look forward to his well-reasoned… Continue Reading
Georgia Appeals Election Day
Posted in Georgia Court of Appeals, News, Supreme Court of GeorgiaIf you haven’t already done so, please vote in today’s election. Polls close at 7:00 p.m. this evening. I voted at 8:00 a.m. this morning, and the woman at my precinct told me that I was only the fifth voter to darken their doors. This is a very important election, and much is at stake…. Continue Reading
So, About the Rest of My Ballot for Georgia Appeals Seats
Posted in Georgia Court of Appeals, News, Supreme Court of GeorgiaI recently wrote about my decision to vote for Justice Nahmias over challenger Tammy Lynn Adkins. That post was picked up by Aly Palmer on the ATL Law Blog, the blog of the Fulton Daily Report. The post has generated thoughtful emails to me about the election. I hope that you’ll research the candidates yourselves… Continue Reading
Georgia Supreme Court Establishes Constitutional Right to Interpreter
Posted in News, Supreme Court of GeorgiaI’m not just posting about Ling v. Georgia (PDF) because I’m her criminal appeals lawyer. Although it is pretty nice to have lost a motion for new trial and an appeal to the Georgia Court of Appeal and ultimely win in the Supreme Court on cert. while helping to secure a new substantive new substantive… Continue Reading
The Curious Way the Media is Covering Georgia Judicial Run-Offs
Posted in Georgia Court of Appeals, Supreme Court of GeorgiaAs I mentioned in a previous post, there are two run-offs for Georgia appellate seats — one for the Georgia Court of Appeals and one for the Supreme Court of Georgia. According to the Atlanta Law Blog, the Blog for the Fulton Daily Report, there are many judicial seats that will be decided by a… Continue Reading
Two Georgia Appeals Seats Headed to a Runoff
Posted in Georgia Court of Appeals, News, Supreme Court of GeorgiaThere will be two run-offs for Georgia appellate seats. Justice David Nahmias, who was appointed to finish the term of Justice Leah Sears, won 48.2% of the votes. He will be in a run-off against Tammy Lynn Adkins, who achieved 35.2% of the vote in spite of the fact that she did not run a… Continue Reading
A Guide to Depositions for Georgia Criminal Appeals Lawyers
Posted in Motion for New Trial, Preservation of Error, Supreme Court of GeorgiaA few months ago, the unthinkable happened on a habeas corpus case I am doing in South Georgia. The judge “suggested” that I handle some witnesses on a particular issue by deposition. There were all kinds of good reasons for it. The witnesses were spead out all over the State. I will probably get to… Continue Reading
E-filing in the Georgia Court of Appeals versus the Supreme Court
Posted in Georgia Court of Appeals, Supreme Court of GeorgiaI have been E-filing in the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court since both courts started offering it. I can’t tell you enough about how great it is to be able to upload a pdf rather than do all of the other archaic stuff that is involved in paper filing a brief…. Continue Reading
Weekend Music About People who Need a Criminal Appellate Lawyer
Posted in Supreme Court of GeorgiaMusic is replete with songs about people who had some bad stuff happen to them at their trial and who need an appellate lawyer. So, I am kicking off a weekly series featuring songs about people who need a good criminal appeals or habeas lawyer. To kick things off, let’s listen to Steve Earle from… Continue Reading
Local Politicians are Criticizing the High Costs of Interpreters
Posted in News, Supreme Court of GeorgiaDue Process comes at a price. According to Patrick Fox, in a recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, it is expensive to provide interpreters for non-English-speaking defendants. In 2009, Gwinnett County paid $539,803 to provide interpreters. With a more diverse population comes an increased need for interpreters. Judge Davis of the Superior Court of Gwinnett… Continue Reading
The Supreme Court of Georgia Now Allows E-Filing of Briefs
Posted in News, Supreme Court of GeorgiaWhile it feels like August in Georgia, for appellate practitioners it may feel a little like it is Christmas. Today, the Supreme Court of Georgia has begun accepting briefs through its new e-filing system. From today forward, lawyers who are in good standing and members of the State Bar of Georgia and the the Supreme… Continue Reading
A Key to Success on Georgia Appeals is to Really Know Your Audience
Posted in Oral Argument, Supreme Court of Georgia, WritingWhen I succeed in my brief writing or at oral argument (I measure success by writing a good brief and by fluid conversational delivery at argument — not necessarily by result), it is because I stop to think about my audience. More particularly, I remember that my audience includes a set of staff attorneys and… Continue Reading
A New Approach to Felony Murder and a New Template to Attack Precedent in Georgia
Posted in Opinions and Analysis, Supreme Court of GeorgiaThere are two big stories in the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision in Jackson v. State. The first is that the rule of causation for felony murder that had been in place for thirty years has been changed. The second is that the majority has provided a framework for any appellant to use in future cases… Continue Reading
Hames Case From Ga. Supreme Court Haunts Original Lawyer
Posted in State Habeas Corpus, Supreme Court of GeorgiaThe Walton County Examiner features an interview with Anthony Carter, Joshua Hames’s original lawyer. Mr. Hames just had his conviction for felony murder related to a hunting accident over seven years ago, reversed on appeal In that interview, Mr. Carter explains that the case still haunts him and that he followed it after he was… Continue Reading
Supreme Court of Georgia Changes Approach to Sentencing After Appeal
Posted in News, Opinions and Analysis, Supreme Court of GeorgiaIn Adams v. State.pdf, the Supreme Court of Georgia held that it is appropriate for a sentencing judge, after a reversal for judicial error, to impose a greater sentence on an individual count as long as the sentence in the aggregate is not increased. The dissent, consisting of three justices, reasons that the Court’s holding… Continue Reading
Passing of Former Chief Justice of Georgia Supreme Court
Posted in Supreme Court of GeorgiaThe Atlanta Journal and Constitution reports that Harold Nelson Hill, Jr., former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice, passed away at his lake home on July 5. Senior U.S. District Court Judge Willis Hunt called him “a stellar member of the Supreme Court.” Justice Hill began serving on the Supreme Court in 1975 and served as… Continue Reading
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