23 results for 'judge:"McMillian"'.
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Any error the trial court committed in refusing to give defendant's requested jury charge on self-defense was harmless. There was strong evidence of defendant's guilt, including witnesses who saw defendant shoot the unarmed victim. Even if the victim snatched defendant's key fob, a reasonable jury could find that defendant's later shooting of the victim was not done to prevent a robbery. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: S24A0570, Categories: Firearms, Murder
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder, violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The trial court correctly refused to instruct the jury on impeachment of a witness through bias toward a party. Defendant also failed to show that he was prejudiced by his trial counsel's alleged refusal to allow defendant to testify in his own defense. There was strong evidence of defendant's guilt, including a witness's testimony that defendant told her he shot the victim in the head. Defendant's potential testimony would have been cumulative of other testimony and evidence presented at trial. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: S24A0014, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder predicated on aggravated assault. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's conviction and to show that he was a party to the crimes, including defendant's admission that he helped the accomplice during his fight with the victim and evidence that defendant's clothes were covered with the victim's blood. Defendant failed to show that his trial counsel's performance was deficient or that he was prejudiced by the alleged deficiencies. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: S24A0170, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's convictions and to show that defendant was a party to the crimes. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: S24A0068, Categories: Firearms, Murder
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The trial court correctly denied defendant's motion for a directed verdict. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's convictions and to allow the jury to find that he was a party to the crimes. Defendant was involved in a fight with the victim before the shooting. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: S24A0069, Categories: Firearms, Murder
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J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder, armed robbery and a firearm offense. Any error the trial court committed in allowing the detective's identification testimony was unlikely to have affected the trial outcome because the testimony was cumulative of the accomplices' identification of defendant from the same surveillance footage. The trial court's failure to give a jury charge on accomplice corroboration also probably did not affect the trial outcome. However, the trial court incorrectly sentenced defendant separately on the armed robbery conviction since defendant's felony murder conviction was predicated on armed robbery. Affirmed in part.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: S24A0270, Categories: Murder
J. McMillian finds that the appeals court improperly upheld the trial court's order denying the city's motion to dismiss the county's claim alleging that the city's water service charges for residents in unincorporated areas of the county or another municipality amounted to an illegal tax. The county's action under the Services Delivery Strategy Act arose from a dispute with the city over delivery and funding of services for residents. The appeals court also incorrectly upheld the trial court's ruling partially in favor of the county with respect to who should bear the costs of county road maintenance in the unincorporated area. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: S23G0341, Categories: Municipal Law
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and other offenses. The trial court correctly found that defendant failed to show he was prejudiced by the 19-year delay between his conviction and his direct appeal. Defendant has not shown that he probably would have prevailed on his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel if the delay had not resulted in the destruction of medical records showing that he had hand injuries at the time of the shootings. Defendant failed to show that the records could have supported a defense that he was not capable of firing the gun. The trial court also correctly denied defendant's motion for mistrial. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: S23A0810, Categories: Murder, Due Process
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and cruelty to children. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's convictions, including evidence that the two-year-old victim suffered fatal injuries on an evening when only defendant was with him. Defendant failed to show that his trial counsel performed deficiently or that he was prejudiced by the alleged deficiencies. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: S23A0864, Categories: Murder, Child Victims
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder predicated on aggravated assault. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's conviction, including evidence that defendant was alone with the two-year-old victim in the hours before his death and that defendant repeatedly admitted he hit the victim in text messages on other occasions. Any error the trial court committed in refusing to allow an expert neurology witness to testify that the victim's death was caused by an enlarged heart probably did not contribute to the verdict. Defendant failed to show that his trial counsel's performance was deficient. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: S23A1075, Categories: Murder, Child Victims
J. McMillian grants the parking lot owner's petition for writ of certiorari and finds that the appeals court improperly overturned the trial court's order imposing evidence spoliation sanctions in a premises liability action arising from injuries the individual suffered in a trip-and-fall incident. The appeals court incorrectly found that the trial court failed to consider the subsequent remedial measures rule in its analysis of the spoliation issue. Consideration of the rule was not necessary to the resolution of the issues. Vacated.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: S23G0795, Categories: Sanctions, Premises Liability
J. McMillian finds that the trial court improperly denied defendant's motion to suppress his medical records, including his blood alcohol content test results, following his indictment on charges including DUI. The state violated defendant's right to privacy when it obtained his medical records via an ex parte order rather than seeking a warrant. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: S23A1158, Categories: Search, Dui
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder, armed robbery and other offenses. The trial court correctly denied defendant's motions for mistrial. Defendant failed to move for mistrial based on a co-indictee's references to being previously incarcerated with defendant until the day after the co-indictee's testimony. Defendant also failed to timely move for a mistrial on the ground that the state failed to disclose evidence favorable to defendants. Defendant failed to show that his trial counsel's performance was deficient. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: S23A1097, Categories: Murder, Robbery
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder, feticide and other offenses. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's murder conviction, including testimony from multiple eyewitnesses who said defendant brandished a gun while yelling threats towards a group of people which included the victim. Defendant also admitted she fired her gun and there was evidence that the bullet that killed the victim was fired from defendant's gun. Defendant failed to show that her trial counsel was deficient for failing to object to portions of a detective's testimony or that the alleged deficiencies were prejudicial to defendant. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: November 7, 2023, Case #: S23A0846, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and aggravated assault. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's murder conviction. However, defendant's aggravated assault conviction should have merged into the murder conviction. Affirmed in part.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: October 11, 2023, Case #: S23A0460, Categories: Murder, Sentencing, Assault
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and a firearm offense. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's convictions and the trial court correctly refused to grant defendant a new trial on general grounds. The trial court also did not commit any error in admitting into evidence a video of defendant's police interview in which defendant failed to respond to some questions from investigators. The evidence of defendant's silence was cumulative of other properly admitted evidence at trial and was harmless in light of the strong evidence of defendant's guilt. Defendant's aggravated assault conviction should have merged into his murder conviction for sentencing. Affirmed in part.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: October 11, 2023, Case #: S23A0684, Categories: Firearms, Murder, Assault
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly dismissed defendant's pro se motion to withdraw his guilty plea to murder. The term of court in which defendant entered his guilty plea expired before his motions to withdraw were filed. Defendant's life sentence is not void. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: September 19, 2023, Case #: S23A0522, Categories: Murder, Plea
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's conviction. The trial court did not commit any error by allowing the jury to review phone records during deliberations which had been admitted into evidence but had not been published or explained to the jury during the trial. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: S23A0746, Categories: Murder
J. McMillian finds that the appeals court improperly upheld the trial court's denial of the husband's motion to exclude a police sergeant's testimony in a negligence action brought by the husband against the driver and the employer arising from a car collision that killed his wife and injured his son. An investigating police officer providing expert testimony is subject to the same inquiry as all witnesses offering expert opinion testimony. The trial court incorrectly failed to conduct a full analysis and failed to consider the reliability or helpfulness of the sergeant's testimony. Vacated.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: August 21, 2023, Case #: S22G0905, Categories: Negligence, Experts
J. McMillian answers two questions certified to the Georgia Supreme Court by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio arising from the pharmaceutical companies' motion to dismiss the hospital authority's claims against them which have been consolidated into a federal multidistrict litigation. The hospital authority does not have legal authority to challenge the preemption provision in the settlement statute. The law was passed after the state entered into an opioid settlement agreement with the companies.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: August 21, 2023, Case #: S23Q486, Categories: Settlements
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and a firearm offense. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's convictions and the trial court did not commit any error in denying defendant's motion to exclude a potential juror who worked at the county jail where defendant was housed waiting for trial. The potential juror did not sit on the jury, therefore defendant cannot show he was harmed. Defendant failed to show that his trial counsel performed deficiently or that he was prejudiced by the alleged deficiencies. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: August 21, 2023, Case #: S23A0518, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Jury, Murder
J. McMillian finds that the trial court improperly convicted defendant of murder after defendant entered a plea of guilty but mentally ill. The trial court incorrectly denied defendant's motion to withdraw his plea because the state failed to show that the plea was knowing and voluntary. Defendant repeatedly said that he felt threatened into entering the plea by police officers, claiming that the police threatened to kill his family. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: June 21, 2023, Case #: S23A0253, Categories: Murder, Plea
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly dismissed the fertilizer companies' fraud, negligence and breach of contract action against the storage tank companies seeking damages from a leaky sulfuric acid storage tank. The trial court correctly found that the claims were barred by the eight-year statute of repose. The tank companies had a substantive, vested right to be free from liability for the breach of contract claims as set out in the pre-2020 version of the statute. The 2020 amendment to the statute cannot be applied retroactively to the breach of warranty claim. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: S23A0273, Categories: Fraud, Negligence, Contract