Warren , Justice . In this case, Petitioners challenge the 2018 election for lieutenant governor—an election in which more than 3.7 million Georgians cast a vote—alleging that defects in electronic voting machines cast doubt on the election in which Geoff Duncan defeated Sarah Riggs Amico by 123,172 votes. 1 Elections are critical to our democratic republic. We give great credence to the choices citizens make when they engage in the democratic process by voting to select their...
Melton , Chief Justice . In March 2011, Elaine Gold, Amy Shaye, Heather Hunter, and Roderick Benson ("Appellees") sued Appellants, the DeKalb County School District ("the District") and the DeKalb County Board of Education ("the Board") for, inter alia, breaching an agreement to provide two-years advance notice prior to suspending contributions to their DeKalb County Tax-Sheltered Annuity Plan ("TSA Plan") accounts. Finding that Appellees failed to establish the existence of an enforceable...
Bethel , Justice . Nearly twenty years ago, Appellant Donald Davis pleaded guilty to the murder of Shereka Smith and was convicted and sentenced. Davis did not timely pursue a direct appeal. Following his unsuccessful pursuit of a writ of habeas corpus, he filed a motion for an out-of-time appeal of his conviction, which the trial court denied. Davis now appeals that denial. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. On December 17, 1999, a Monroe County grand jury indicted Davis on...
Peterson , Justice . Cobb and Gwinnett Counties have sued telephone companies for their failure to collect and remit to the Counties a charge imposed on subscribers to offset the cost of 911 services. The telephone companies have raised various defenses to the Counties' suits, including that the 911 charge is a tax that the Counties are not allowed to collect by a lawsuit like this one. The trial court rejected that argument and allowed the cases to proceed, but the Court of Appeals vacated...
Boggs , Justice . This appeal involves the interpretation of a provision of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), codified in Georgia as OCGA 19-9-40 et seq. The case stems from the trial court's dismissal of a child custody modification action, filed by Christopher Thomas Plummer (Father), on the ground that the trial court did not have jurisdiction to consider the matter, because neither Father, nor Elia Marie Plummer (Mother), nor the child was living in...
