The Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed Carl Morey’s conviction for theft by taking from his general contractor, rejecting multiple ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims and finding that limited victim-impact testimony during the guilt phase was harmless error.
The Court of Appeals of Georgia dismissed a criminal appeal, holding that a motion challenging the sufficiency of an indictment after a guilty plea is not a proper void-sentence claim and cannot support a direct appeal.
The Fourth DCA affirms a foreclosure judgment and dismisses a challenge to a Rule 1.540(b) denial for untimeliness, holding that each denial order triggers its own independent 30-day appeal deadline.
The Fourth DCA holds that a trial court lacks jurisdiction to rule on a Rule 3.850 postconviction motion filed before resentencing is complete, as finality for 3.850 purposes occurs only after resentencing.
The Fourth DCA holds that a pre-judgment denial of attorney’s fees merges into the final judgment and must be challenged in the initial appeal—failure to do so permanently waives the issue.
The First District held that imposing consecutive sentences on two firearm specifications was erroneous where the underlying felonies arose from the same act or transaction, but found no plain error because the defendant received an agreed sentence and failed to object below.
The Fifth District reversed and remanded for resentencing, holding that aggravated vehicular assault (OVI-based) and vehicular assault (recklessness-based) are allied offenses of similar import that must merge under R.C. 2941.25 when committed against the same victim.
The Georgia Court of Appeals partially reversed a child custody modification order, holding that the trial court could not alter legal custody — including decision-making authority over religion and extracurricular activities — after expressly finding no material change in circumstances, while affirming changes to parenting time.
The Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of a motion to suppress, holding that exigent circumstances justified the warrantless seizure of a computer suspected of containing child sexual exploitation material where the defendant repeatedly entered and exited his room under the guise of searching for a hard drive.
The Tenth District affirmed the denial of a contempt motion in a divorce case, holding that failure to file timely objections to a magistrate’s decision and failure to provide the hearing transcript to the appellate court were fatal procedural defects.