DILLARD, Judge. In this civil action, Harold J. Farris sued First Financial Bank and the law firm of Campbell, Martin & Manley, LLP (collectively "defendants"), alleging that defendants wrongfully foreclosed on property that Farris obtained from his former wife via a divorce decree. Following a grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants as to all his claims, Farris appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in finding as a matter of law that defendants (1) complied with the notice...
PHIPPS, Presiding Judge. In connection with a shooting, Melvin Morrell was indicted for aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. A jury found him not guilty of aggravated assault and guilty of firearm possession. Morrell was sentenced on the firearm possession count. In this appeal, he argues that he should not have been sentenced thereon because the verdicts were inconsistent; he also contends that the final jury charge contained errors. Because no...
MIKELL, Chief Judge. Both of these appeals turn on a dispute over whether an easement exists in a section of road abandoned by the City of Atlanta to facilitate the Atlanta Development Authority's plans for a $120 million mixed-use development, Historic Westside Village. The cases are consolidated for our review. The section of road at issue formerly was known as Harwell Street, N.W., and runs between property owned by defendants-appellants Robert N. Zywiciel and Precious J. Muhammad at...
BARNES, Presiding Judge. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Inc. ("SCLC"), its Board of Directors, and three individuals 1 (collectively, "SCLC") sued six former or current members of its Board of Directors 2 ("the Defendants"), seeking an order enjoining them from interfering with the SCLC's corporate governance or with its use and enjoyment of the corporate headquarters. The SCLC also sought a declaratory judgment identifying its board members and officers, alleging that the...
BARNES, Presiding Judge. Omni Builders Risk, Inc., n/k/a Best Value Insurance Services, Inc. ("Omni") appeals from the order of the trial court enforcing a mediated settlement agreement between Omni and Lori Bennett. The trial court granted Bennett's motion for partial summary judgment upon finding that the parties entered into a binding settlement agreement during mediation, and denied Omni's cross-motion for summary judgment in which it had argued that Omni never entered into a binding...
MILLER, Presiding Judge. In City of McDonough v. Campbell, 289 Ga. 216 , 710 S.E.2d 537 (2011), the Supreme Court of Georgia reversed the judgment of this Court in City of McDonough v. Campbell, 304 Ga.App. 428 , 696 S.E.2d 150 (2010). Therefore, we vacate our earlier opinion and adopt the opinion of the Supreme Court as our own. Judgment reversed. PHIPPS, P.J., and McFADDEN, J., concur.
BARNES, Presiding Judge. Following a defense verdict, the trial court denied a defendant's motion for more than $69,000 in attorney fees under Georgia's "offer of settlement" statute, OCGA 9-11-68, in this wrongful death action against two tractor-trailer truck drivers, their employers, and their insurers. The trial court found that the defendant was not entitled to attorney fees because its initial offer to settle for $25,000 was not made in good faith. The defendant appeals, arguing that...
ELLINGTON, Judge. In this suit under the Federal Employers' Liability Act ("FELA"), 45 U.S.C. 51 et seq., Norfolk Southern Railway Company ("Norfolk Southern") appeals from the final judgment and jury verdict in favor of Michael Everett on his negligence suit for emotional damages arising out of a train derailment and collision into a commercial building. Norfolk Southern contends that the trial court erred in granting Everett's motion in limine concerning the "zone of danger" test, in...
ANDREWS, Judge. Arron Lavell Johnson was found guilty at a bench trial of possession of a schedule II controlled substance (3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) in violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act. Johnson and the State stipulated to evidence that he was in possession of the controlled substance and agreed to try the case based on the transcript produced at the pre-trial hearing on his motion to suppress evidence of the controlled substance, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation...
BARNES, Presiding Judge. Appellees Fort Benning Family Communities, LLC ("FBFC") and Fort Belvoir Residential Communities, LLC ("BRC") are owners of military housing projects at Fort Benning, Georgia and Fort Belvoir, Virginia. On May 20, 2010, they filed a complaint in Muscogee County Superior Court seeking a declaratory judgment that their property management agreements with appellant American Management Services East LLC ("AMSE"), their property manager, automatically terminated for cause...
BLACKWELL, Judge. After Michelle Borror and Ryan Holt died in an electrical fire at their mobile home in Richmond County, their parents sued Lewis Vann, an electrical inspector with the Augusta License Inspection Department, for wrongful death. 1 The Department assigned Vann to inspect the home before Georgia Power connected electricity to it, and the parents allege that Vann negligently failed to inspect the home at all or, at the least, to inspect it properly, and they assert that his...
BARNES, Presiding Judge. Sonja Thomas appeals the grant of summary judgment to her former employer, HL-A Co., Inc., on her claim that HL-A improperly terminated her employment in violation of OCGA 34-1-3(a) 1 for attending a juvenile court proceeding. HL-A contends, however, that Thomas was not terminated in violation of OCGA 34-1-3(a) but because the company believed that Thomas had falsified her employment application. Because Thomas submitted sufficient evidence to show a prima...
BLACKWELL, Judge. The court below concluded that Dwayne and Beverly Bush fail in their amended complaint to state any claim upon which relief can be granted, 1 and the court awarded judgment on the pleadings to one defendant and dismissed the others. The Bushes appeal, contending that they, in fact, state several claims upon which relief can be granted. Although we review de novo a determination that a pleading fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, Sherman v. Fulton County...
DILLARD, Judge. Dr. William Bithoney, M.D., relocated from New York to Atlanta after accepting employment in an executive capacity at Grady Memorial Hospital. But the night before his anticipated start date, Bithoney was informed that Grady's governing body, the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority (the "Authority"), did not approve of his hiring and would not permit him to commence work. Bithoney subsequently filed suit against the Authority and Pamela Stephenson, the chair of the Authority's...
BARNES, Presiding Judge. In Purvis v. State, 288 Ga. 865, 708 S.E.2d 283 (2011), the Supreme court of Georgia reversed the judgment of this Court in Purvis v. State, 301 Ga.App. 648 , 689 S.E.2d 53 (2009). Therefore, we vacate our earlier opinion and adopt the opinion of the Supreme Court as our own. Judgment reversed. MILLER, P.J., and ANDREWS, J., concur.
BLACKWELL, Judge. In May 2008, Suzanne Robinson bought a home in Bryan County, and after finding serious defects in its design and construction, she sued Finley Merry and James Crosby, both of whom, she alleged, were responsible for the design and construction of the home. 1 Neither timely answered the complaint, and the court below entered a default judgment against Merry and Crosby jointly, awarding Robinson more than $1 million. 2 Merry moved to set aside the default judgment,...
BLACKWELL, Judge. These appeals arise from a legal malpractice case in which Jeffrey W. Duncan claims that lawyer Daniel M. Klein gave him erroneous advice about whether he could sue his employer for violations of federal employment discrimination laws. Klein allegedly told Duncan that such a lawsuit would not succeed, and believing as a result that he had no recourse against his employer, Duncan later resigned his employment. Duncan then enrolled in law school, where he learned that Klein...
BARNES, Presiding Judge. Randolph Burroughs slipped and fell while disposing of trash at a county sanitation facility, sustaining serious injuries. He sued two Mitchell County employees and the county itself, contending that the facility was improperly designed and built. He also sued Seminole Sanitation Services, Inc., the company that serviced the dumpsters, contending that it contributed to his injury because its employees had bent the facility's landing and placed the dumpster several...
SMITH, Presiding Judge. Kenneth Bellamy appeals from his convictions on one count of armed robbery and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. 1 He asserts that the trial court erred in its charge to the jury, that he received ineffective assistance of counsel, and that the trial court erred by failing to merge or vacate one of his firearm convictions. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the record...
ANDREWS, Judge. In Cook v. NC Two, L.P., 303 Ga.App. 797 , 695 S.E.2d 284 (2010), we affirmed the trial court's order denying Kenneth Cook's traverse to a garnishment action. Our Supreme Court granted certiorari in Cook v. NC Two, L.P., 289 Ga. 462 , 712 S.E.2d 831 (2011), and reversed. Accordingly, our previous opinion is vacated, the judgment of the Supreme Court is made the judgment of this Court, and the judgment of the trial court is reversed. Judgment reversed. ELLINGTON and...
