Court Filings

The Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed Flint Duerfeldt’s convictions for child molestation, aggravated sexual battery, and aggravated child molestation and upheld the trial court’s denial of his motion for new trial. Duerfeldt argued the admission of a forensic interviewer’s testimony that the victim’s disclosure was consistent with other sexually abused children violated the amended expert-evidence rule and that trial counsel was ineffective for not objecting. The court found the testimony was properly admissible under OCGA § 24-7-702, did not impermissibly vouch for credibility, and counsel’s failure to object was not deficient because an objection would have been futile.

The Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s denial of Edward Ball’s pretrial motion to suppress evidence seized from his home after a jury convicted him of multiple drug and firearm offenses. The court held the search warrant was supported by probable cause based on controlled buys, surveillance tying Ball and a vehicle registered to him to drug transactions, and the officer’s training and experience; it also found no reversible error in alleged reliance on evidence outside the affidavit. Challenges that the warrant was overbroad or lacked particularity failed because Ball did not show any harm or preserve a detailed argument below.

The Court of Appeals dismissed Steven Donald Lemery’s appeal from the trial court’s February 10, 2026 denial of his extraordinary motion for new trial. The court found it lacked jurisdiction because Lemery’s notice of appeal was filed 41 days after the order and therefore untimely under OCGA § 5-6-38(a), and because appeals from denials of extraordinary motions for new trial must proceed by discretionary appeal under OCGA § 5-6-35(a)(7). Because both timeliness and the required procedural route were lacking, the Court dismissed the appeal.

The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court exceeded its authority by directing the Department of Corrections (DOC) to credit the defendant, Jonathan Lynn Stansell, with time served beginning January 26, 2022, for burglary and theft convictions where Stansell was not arrested on those charges until January 12, 2025. The court held the sentencing judge misdirected the correctional custodian because only the custodian/DOC computes credit for time served under state law. The panel vacated the portion of the sentencing orders that set the starting date for credit and remanded to remove that language.

The Court of Appeals dismissed Jerome Locke’s appeal challenging the trial court’s dismissal of his 2024 request for credit for time served. Locke had pled guilty in 2018 and was sentenced to 20 years with 12 to be served in confinement. The trial court concluded it lacked jurisdiction because the Department of Corrections computes credit under OCGA § 17-10-12. The Court of Appeals held the appeal improper because the correct remedy is a mandamus action against prison officials; a motion filed in the criminal case is a nullity and not appealable.

The Court of Appeals dismissed Troy Rimes's appeal for lack of jurisdiction. Rimes was convicted after a jury trial and the trial court denied his motion for a new trial on August 17, 2023. After Rimes moved for an out-of-time appeal, the trial court vacated and re-entered its denial order on January 26, 2026. Rimes filed a notice of appeal on March 31, 2026, but because Georgia law requires a notice of appeal within 30 days of the order's entry and his notice was filed 64 days after re-entry, the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal as untimely.

The Court of Appeals considered Eric Maxwell's direct appeal from the trial court's denial of his motion for an out-of-time appeal following convictions that included malice murder. The court concluded it lacked jurisdiction because Georgia's Supreme Court has exclusive appellate jurisdiction over cases in which the death penalty could be imposed. Because malice murder carries a potential death sentence, the Court of Appeals transferred the appeal to the Supreme Court of Georgia for disposition.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s denial of William Bernard White’s plea in bar asserting immunity under Georgia’s 9-1-1 Medical Amnesty Law (OCGA § 16-13-5). White was arrested on an outstanding probation-violation warrant after a 911 call reported an apparently unconscious driver; paramedics found no medical emergency, and a search incident to arrest uncovered fentanyl. The court held the statute protects defendants only when the incriminating evidence “resulted solely from seeking such medical assistance,” and here the evidence flowed from the arrest on the outstanding warrant, not from the 911 call.

The Georgia Court of Appeals reviewed an Application for Discretionary Appeal filed by Keithan B. Patmon from the State. After consideration, the court issued an order dated April 27, 2026, denying the application. The document is a brief administrative entry recording the court's disposition without additional written opinion or reasoning.

The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed Jonathan D. Reed’s appeal challenging parts of his 2007 convictions and sentence. Reed had previously litigated the same challenge to his hijacking sentence and earlier appeals were dismissed or resolved, so the court found it lacked jurisdiction to relitigate those issues. The court also held that claims attacking the validity of a conviction or asserting merger of sentences are not properly raised in a motion to vacate as void, and Reed’s consecutive-sentence challenge did not present a colorable voidness claim because each sentence was within statutory limits.

The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed Gustavo Cisneros’s appeal from the trial court’s denial of his 2026 motion to vacate a void sentence. Cisneros argued several convictions should have merged (attempt with armed robbery, sexual battery with aggravated battery, and burglary with armed robbery). The court held that merger challenges attack convictions, not sentences, and therefore are not properly raised in a motion to vacate a void sentence. Because the motion did not present a colorable void-sentence claim, the Court of Appeals concluded it lacked jurisdiction and dismissed the appeal.

The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed Austin Eugene Spargo's direct appeal from a trial court order revoking his probation because such appeals must be pursued by applying for a discretionary appeal under state law. The court explained that compliance with the discretionary-appeal procedure is jurisdictional, cited statute and precedent, and concluded it lacked jurisdiction to hear the direct appeal, so the appeal was dismissed.

The Georgia Court of Appeals considered an application for discretionary appeal in the criminal case of Joseph McClellan Raines (LC No. 2017CR0650) and denied the application on April 24, 2026. The order is brief and procedural: the court simply records that the application for discretionary review is denied, without published reasoning or discussion of the merits. The document is a certified court minute entry signed by the Clerk of the Court of Appeals of Georgia.

The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal of USMAN MOHSIN for failure to comply with filing rules. The appellant did not file the required enumeration of errors and brief within twenty days after docketing and ignored the court's March 31, 2026 order to file by April 10, 2026. Because the appellant still had not filed the materials as of April 23, 2026, the court deemed the appeal abandoned and dismissed it under the court's procedural rules.

The Court of Appeals dismissed Andre Latrell Burton’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction. Burton filed a notice of appeal on March 2, 2026 challenging the trial court’s November 5, 2025 denial of his 2024 motion to set aside his sentence. Because Georgia law requires a notice of appeal within 30 days of entry of the order and Burton’s notice was filed about four months late, the Court concluded it had no jurisdiction and dismissed the appeal without reaching the merits.

The Court of Appeals dismissed Willie Clarence Lee Jr.'s appeal from the trial court's December 4, 2025 dismissal of his motion to vacate, set aside, or reverse judgment because his notice of appeal, filed January 7, 2026, was untimely. The court explained that Georgia law requires a notice of appeal within 30 days of the judgment or order being appealed and that timely filing is an absolute jurisdictional requirement. Because Lee filed his notice 34 days after the order, the Court of Appeals lacked jurisdiction and dismissed the appeal without reaching the motion's merits.

The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s denial of Stanley Randolph’s motion to suppress evidence obtained after police detained and searched him. Officers found Randolph sitting in a parked sedan in a high-crime cul-de-sac at night, blocked the car, and required the occupants to exit; officers later saw a backpack with suspected marijuana and then searched. The appellate court held the encounter was a detention requiring particularized, objective suspicion, which the record did not supply prior to the restraint, so the stop and subsequent evidence collection were unlawful and suppression was required.

The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Morris Charles Spann’s convictions for malice murder, felony murder (merged), aggravated assaults, and related firearm-possession counts arising from the July 30, 2011 shootings that killed his mother and wounded Willie Ricks. The Court reviewed a sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge and held that, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational jury could find Spann guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The ruling relied on eyewitness testimony, physical evidence linking Spann to the gun, his flight from the scene, and inconsistencies in his account to reject alternative theories of innocence.

The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed most of Calvin Sneed’s convictions for the 2017 fatal shooting of Gregory Jones but found merger and sentencing errors. The court rejected Sneed’s claims that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to two prosecutor remarks during closing argument, concluding those remarks were permissible inferences from the evidence and that objections would have been meritless. However, the court held that two firearm convictions (Counts 7 and 8) should have merged with Count 9, vacated those convictions and sentences, and remanded for correction of the sentence summary to reflect the proper 15-year term for Count 9.

The Georgia Supreme Court reviewed Alex Khalil Smith’s appeal of his 2022 convictions for malice murder and related offenses arising from the July 8, 2020 shooting death of Cassandra Arnold. The Court held that the evidence was legally sufficient to support the convictions—pointing to motive from a shorted drug deal, cell-phone location data placing Smith at the scene near the time of the shooting, incriminating phone calls, and gunshot-residue on clothing and a mask. However, the Court vacated and remanded the trial court’s denial of Smith’s motion for new trial because the trial court failed to exercise and state its discretion under Georgia’s general grounds for a new trial.

The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of I’Kenyo Shine’s 2025 motion for leave to file an out-of-time appeal from a 2006 guilty plea to felony murder. Shine argued his plea counsel was ineffective for failing to advise him of appellate rights, relying on later precedent and a 2025 statute authorizing out-of-time appeals. The Court held Shine’s claim was barred by earlier habeas litigation and res judicata, and that counsel could not be ineffective for failing to advise of a right that did not exist under controlling law in 2006. The Court also found Shine waived a recusal claim by not raising it below.

The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Sheldon Ragland’s convictions for malice murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and related firearm offenses for the 2017 shooting death of Kenneth Adair. Ragland challenged several trial rulings (exclusion/limitation of questioning about a witness’s 9mm gun, admission of recorded jail calls and a detective’s identification/opinion about the callers), argued trial counsel was ineffective, and claimed cumulative prejudice. The Court found no reversible error: the evidence about the 9mm was before the jury or cumulative, counsel strategically declined objections to use the tape, any opinion testimony was harmless given strong independent evidence, and the ineffectiveness and cumulative-prejudice claims failed.

The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Gregory Painter’s convictions for malice murder and related offenses. Painter argued the trial court erred by refusing to give jury instructions on two forms of the insanity defense (lack of ability to distinguish right from wrong and delusional compulsion). The Court held there was no slight evidence to support either instruction: evidence of mental illness or odd behavior alone is insufficient, Painter refused a court-ordered evaluation and presented no expert proof or contemporaneous evidence of a delusion that would justify the killing, and his post-shooting statements and concealment undermined a claim he could not distinguish right from wrong.

The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of Trevor Lamont Nuckles’s post-judgment motion. Nuckles, who pleaded guilty in 2012 to felony murder and related offenses and was sentenced to life plus five years, sought to quash the indictment, withdraw his guilty plea as involuntary, obtain leave for an out-of-time appeal, and secure counsel. The Court held the trial court correctly denied relief because Nuckles’s plea-withdrawal request was untimely after the term of court expired, his attempt to vacate convictions via a motion was not an appropriate criminal remedy, and he failed to show entitlement to an out-of-time appeal under OCGA § 5-6-39.1.

The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Tonya Monroe’s 2022 convictions for malice murder, first-degree cruelty to children, and distribution of methamphetamine for the 2016 death of her nine-month-old grandson, Kobe Shaw. The Court held that the evidence — expert testimony showing meth in Kobe’s blood consistent with direct administration, medical findings, and witness statements that Monroe admitted placing meth in Kobe’s mouth — was sufficient for a rational jury to convict. The Court also rejected Monroe’s ineffective-assistance claims, finding trial counsel’s strategic choices (cross-examination, rebuttal expert, and tactical decisions about limiting instructions and impeachment) reasonable.

The Georgia Supreme Court vacated the trial court’s dismissal of Jonathan Miller’s motion to correct a void sentence and remanded for further proceedings. Miller, who was sentenced to life with parole after convictions including felony murder for a 1998 killing committed when he was 15, argued his life sentence is grossly disproportionate in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The Court held that an Eighth Amendment disproportionality claim is a cognizable void-sentence claim that may be raised at any time, found the trial court erred by dismissing for lack of jurisdiction, and remanded because the record did not clearly show the trial court decided the constitutional claim on the merits.

The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed Travis McFarland’s convictions, including felony murder and related counts, and his Street Gang Act convictions. The court reviewed the sufficiency of the evidence, a denied jury instruction on justification (self-defense), and ineffective-assistance claims. It concluded the evidence (social media, phone data, a fingerprint on a gun, eyewitness testimony, and a gang expert) supported a finding that McFarland committed the predicate offenses with intent to further gang interests and his status. The court also found no basis for a justification instruction and no showing of deficient or prejudicial trial performance by counsel.

The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Deqaveon Malcolm’s convictions for two counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and criminal damage to property arising from a 2016 drive-by shooting that killed James Simmons and injured Trevis Bufford. Malcolm challenged the sufficiency of the evidence, his trial counsel’s failure to move to suppress gunshot-residue evidence from his mother’s car, and the trial court’s refusal to remove a juror who had been a victim in a Fulton County case. The Court held the evidence supported guilt as a party to the crimes, counsel’s decision to forego suppression was a reasonable strategy, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion on the juror issue.

The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Matthew Larkins’s convictions for malice murder and related offenses arising from the August 4, 2016 shooting death of Shanna Smith. Larkins challenged sufficiency of the evidence, jury instructions about a testifying co-defendant’s out-of-court statements, ineffective assistance for failing to object to a judge’s remark to jurors, admission of alleged co-conspirator hearsay, and the prosecutor’s initial closing argument. The Court found the evidence strong and any instructional or evidentiary errors harmless, trial counsel’s choices reasonable, and Georgia law permits the prosecutor’s opening; therefore the convictions and sentence were affirmed.

The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed David William Kelly’s convictions for the 2017 shooting death of his wife. Kelly challenged the sufficiency of the evidence, voir dire limits, hearsay rulings (including use of the residual hearsay exception), admission of certain testimony, and multiple claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. The Court reviewed the trial evidence in detail, found the forensic and witness evidence supported the jury’s verdict, held the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting challenged testimony under OCGA § 24-8-807, and concluded Kelly failed to show deficient performance or prejudice from his attorneys’ actions. The convictions and sentence were affirmed.