George H. Carley

The case involved Lance Coleman Rockholt's conviction for malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony after he shot and killed Mark Anthony Pickett following a road rage incident. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the convictions, holding that the evidence was sufficient because it included direct evidence such as eyewitness testimony and the defendant's confession, and that any challenge to the admission of the firearm was waived at trial. The court further noted that the search leading to the gun was valid due to the homeowner's consent.

criminal lawprocedureguns

The case concerned a petition for a writ of mandamus filed by Myron White, Robert E. White, and Gary Gerrard against Judge Lawton E. Stephens after he dismissed their notices of appeal from a June 7, 2011 order in the underlying trust dispute Call v. White, which involved successor trusteeship, sale of trust property from a 1947 deed of gift, distribution of proceeds to a child born after the deed, and attorney fees for stubborn litigiousness. The trial court denied mandamus on the grounds that the notices of appeal were untimely because earlier 2008 and 2010 orders were final, rendering any relief nugatory. The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed and remanded with direction to issue the writ, holding that the prior orders were not final under OCGA § 5-6-34, so the notices from the June 2011 order were timely and properly filed, Judge Stephens lacked discretion to block the appeal from his dismissal order, and mandamus was available because no other adequate remedy existed.

procedurepropertyfamily law

In this divorce case, Maria Pina and Rui Pina disputed the equitable division of a Massachusetts property that the wife had purchased before their 1998 marriage and later transferred into a trust for her children; the husband claimed an interest based on marital funds used for mortgage payments, repairs, and improvements, as well as his own maintenance work during the marriage. The trial court found that the property remained the wife's separate asset but that any increase in its net equity due to marital contributions was negligible, and it awarded the property to her without determining its current market value. On appeal, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed, holding that only the post-marriage increase in equity from marital efforts qualifies as a divisible marital asset and that the evidence supported the trial court's conclusion that such increase was nominal because the husband had been compensated for his work, the property generated its own rental income to cover expenses, and the husband had used part of it rent-free. The court reasoned that without proof of the property's value at marriage, precise valuation was unnecessary and the trial court's broad discretion in equitable division was not abused.

family lawproperty

In this divorce case, the central dispute was whether the marital residence should be divided equitably or treated as the wife's separate property after the husband transferred title to her. The trial court ruled that the home was the wife's separate property, finding that the husband had gifted it to shield it from his creditors following his disbarment. On appeal, the husband argued that the absence of a consolidated pretrial order violated procedural rules and the scheduling order, automatically removing the case from the calendar so he was not required to appear. The court affirmed the judgment, holding that the husband could not benefit from his own failure to submit his portion of the pretrial order, that he had received notice of the trial date, and that he failed to object contemporaneously before the final judgment was entered.

family lawprocedure

The case involved Roger James Reed, who was charged with malice murder, felony murder during aggravated assault, aggravated assault, and aggravated battery after a fight at a party where he struck Willie Lee Gatson and his sister Nettie Porter with a hatchet, resulting in Gatson's death and severe injury to Porter. Reed was acquitted of malice murder but convicted of the other charges, and the trial court sentenced him to life without parole as a recidivist, though the aggravated assault sentence was later vacated. On appeal, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the convictions, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support the verdicts under Jackson v. Virginia, the indictment adequately alleged the elements of the predicate offense for felony murder, similar transaction evidence was properly admitted under the Williams test, and any errors in the prosecution's closing argument were harmless given the overwhelming evidence of guilt.

criminal lawprocedure

This case concerns a 1954 agreement between Stiles Apartments and the predecessor to the Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County (ACC) that relocated a public sidewalk onto Stiles' private property and created a 22-space parking area, with roughly two-thirds of each space on Stiles' fee-simple land. Stiles sued for injunctive relief after ACC asserted public control over the parking area, including plans for meters and patrols, while ACC counterclaimed for declaratory judgment and other relief; the trial court granted an interlocutory injunction preserving the status quo. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion because evidence supported the conclusion that the agreement did not intend to create public property rights in Stiles' portion of the land, the harm to Stiles' property interest was irreparable, and the injunction would not disserve the public interest. The court noted that conflicting evidence did not require reversal and that ACC's other defenses had not been ruled on below.

propertyprocedure