MILLER, Presiding Judge. Ezekiel Williams, Jr., entered a negotiated plea of guilty to one count of felony theft by shoplifting (OCGA 16-8-14(b)(3)). He now appeals from the trial court's order denying his motion to withdraw guilty plea, arguing manifest injustice arising out of claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. Discerning no error, we affirm. Once a sentence has been entered, a guilty plea may be withdrawn "only to correct a manifest injustice." (Punctuation and footnote...
PHIPPS, Presiding Judge. The Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) instituted proceedings to condemn real property on which a restaurant stood. The condemnation constituted a total taking of the property, and the condemnees sought a jury trial on their fair and adequate compensation for the taking. 1 We granted this interlocutory review of the trial court's rulings on several pre-trial motions. In Case No. A10A1812, condemnee CNL APF Partners, LP (CNL) appeals the trial court's denial...
ADAMS, Judge. The underlying procedural history relevant to this appeal is undisputed. 1 On March 24, 2009, the Fulton County Grand Jury returned a multi-count indictment against twelve defendants; 2 Count 1 of the indictment charged the defendants with participating in criminal street gang activity in violation of OCGA 16-15-4 3 "for the said accused, . . . on and between January 1, 2007 and June 18, 2008 did unlawfully, while associated with a criminal street gang, known as 30 Deep...
MIKELL, Judge. ProNvest, Inc., and Signix, Inc., plaintiffs below, appeal from the trial court's grant of summary judgment against them on all of their claims 1 against Craig Levy, a former employee of Signix. Plaintiffs also named DocuSign, Inc., the company which hired Levy following his employment with Signix, as a joint defendant with Levy. Two orders were entered by the trial court on September 29, 2009, one granting summary judgment to Levy and the other granting summary judgment to...
DOYLE, Judge. On May 19, 2003, a fire occurred in an oven at a chicken processing plant located in Oakwood, Georgia, and owned by Wayne Farms, LLC. After the fire, Wayne Farms and its various subrogors, including Royal Indemnity Company (collectively "Wayne Farms"), filed suit against R & R Insulation Services, Inc., a company owned by Richard Robinson ("R & R"), and Crane Company ("Crane"), doing business as Crane Composites, Sequentia Incorporate, and Lasco Composites, LP, seeking $260,000,...
BARNES, Presiding Judge. Joseph Jerry Wright appeals the dismissal of his lawsuit against Safari Club International, an organization based in Arizona ("SCI"), because the trial court found that Wright failed to join a necessary party to the action, Waterberg Big Game Hunting, Fishing & Photographic Safaris ("WABI"). Wright is a resident of Georgia and a member of SCI. WABI, based in Namibia, conducts African safaris. Wright contends the trial court erred by dismissing his complaint for...
ELLINGTON, Judge. Catherine and Ross Kesterson, individually, and their minor daughter, Kyla, by and through her parents, appeal from a jury verdict and final judgment in favor of the defendants in this medical malpractice case. Following a bifurcated trial on the issue of liability, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Walter Jarrett, M.D., Athens Obstetrics and Gynecology, P.C., and St. Mary's Healthcare System, Inc. d/b/a St. Mary's Hospital. On appeal, the Kestersons contend the State...
DILLARD, Judge. Plaintiffs James Gary Nelson ("Nelson"), Deborah Nelson, Jeany Pontrelli, and Michael J. Pontrelli filed a medical malpractice action, seeking damages related to the allegedly negligent treatment Nelson received as a patient at the Medical College of Georgia ("MCG") hospital facility following his surgery to remove a brain tumor. Plaintiffs named as defendants, among others, MCG Health, Inc. ("MCGHI"); Michael Cowan, M.D.; Peter Brown, M.D.; Samuel Macomsen, M.D.; and...
PHIPPS, Presiding Judge. This is an appeal from an order permanently enjoining the enforcement of a rule established by a private cemetery owner to prohibit the use of concrete vaults in its cemeteries. For the reasons that follow, we affirm. In 2008, the Savannah Cemetery Group, Inc., which owned five private cemeteries in the Savannah, Chatham County area (the "cemetery group") established a rule prohibiting the use of concrete burial vaults in its cemeteries, requiring instead steel or...
PHIPPS, Presiding Judge. Columbia National Insurance Company brought a declaratory judgment action to determine its obligations, pursuant to a business owner's liability insurance policy, to defend or indemnify parties in a wrongful death and personal injury ("wrongful death") action. Columbia moved for summary judgment in the declaratory action, which the trial court granted, finding that Columbia had no duty to defend or indemnify parties in the wrongful death action. In Case No. A10A0935,...
SMITH, Presiding Judge. In these appeals transferred from the Supreme Court of Georgia, we must once again venture into the thorny and contentious arena of church property disputes. The issue presented here is whether a church corporation and its property are controlled by Timberridge Presbyterian Church, Inc. ("Timberridge"), a local church which has voted to disaffiliate from the Presbyterian Church (USA) ("PCUSA"), or controlled by the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, Inc. ("the Presbytery"),...
ADAMS, Judge. George W. Lumsden and Helen F. Lumsden filed this appeal after the trial court granted summary judgment to Stephen P. Williams and Elizabeth McGee (hereinafter referred to collectively as the "Sellers") on the Lumsdens' claims arising from alleged construction defects in their home. The Sellers began construction on the home, a log-cabin style house in Chattooga County, in March 2004. George Lumsden contracted to purchase the house from the Sellers on December 1, 2005. 1 Under...
SMITH, Presiding Judge. In this legal malpractice action, Charlotte and Harry Kitchen appeal from the trial court's order entering summary judgment in favor of defendants R. Jonathan Hart and Lee, Black, Hart & Rouse, P.C. (collectively "Hart"). The Kitchens contend the trial court erred in concluding that they suffered no damages as a proximate result of Hart's alleged negligence and in applying the "read or perish" rule to a portion of their claim against Hart. For the reasons set forth...
JOHNSON, Judge. Following a final hearing in this custody modification action, the trial court awarded primary physical custody of the three minor children to their father, Shane Carroll. The children's mother, Heather Carroll, appeals claiming that the trial court committed harmful error in reviewing testimony previously submitted by affidavit. We find no error because the mother does not show that the trial court considered the affidavits as evidence for purpose of the final hearing or used...
BARNES, Presiding Judge. Adventure Outdoors, Inc., a Georgia business that sells firearms, appeals the dismissal of its slander complaint against New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, The Nooner Investigative Group, Tanya Marie Nooner, Melissa Merced, Joseph Tounsel, 1 The James Mintz Group, 2 James Mintz, Michael Cardozo, 3 John Feinblatt, 4 and Raymond Kelly. 5 The trial court dismissed the suit because Adventure Outdoors failed to submit the affidavit required by OCGA 9-11-11.1, the...
BARNES, Presiding Judge. The mother of D.Q. and J.Q. appeals from the order of the juvenile court finding the children to be deprived. She challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, contending that there was no clear and convincing evidence of emotional or physical abuse and that the evidence showed that she had provided the children with the required counseling. On appeal from a juvenile court's order finding deprivation, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the juvenile...
SMITH, Presiding Judge. Following a jury trial in this condemnation case, the superior court entered a judgment in favor of the condemnee RNW Family Partnership, Ltd. ("RNW") in the amount of $109,130. Following the denial of its motion for new trial, RNW appeals, alleging several claims of error. Having reviewed those claims, we find no reversible error and affirm. The record reveals that RNW owned an 198.13-acre tract of land in McDuffie County, Georgia at the corner of Highway 78 and...
DOYLE, Judge. After a jury trial, Samuel Brown was convicted of trafficking in cocaine 1 and possession of tools (electronic scales) for the commission of a crime. 2 On appeal, Brown challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, contending that other individuals had equal access to the premises. Brown also argues that the trial court erred by (1) admitting impermissible character evidence; (2) not recusing from Brown's trial or new trial motion; (3) not excusing for cause a juror employed by...
BARNES, Presiding Judge. Richard M. Boring and Mechanical Equipment and Supply, Inc. (hereinafter collectively "Boring"), appeal from the trial court's order confirming the foreclosure sale of certain properties that State Bank and Trust Company held as security for commercial loans Boring guaranteed. Upon our review, we affirm. In confirming a nonjudicial foreclosure sale under OCGA 44-14-161, the trial court "shall require evidence to show the true market value of the property sold under...
ADAMS, Judge. Robert A. Forster, M.D., appeals the trial court's grant of summary judgment to State Farm Fire & Casualty Company in a declaratory judgment action filed by the insurer to determine its rights and obligations in relation to a lawsuit filed against Forster by John and Andrea Goldberg. The Goldbergs' suit seeks damages in connection with Forster's renovation and sale of a house. "[W]e review the trial court's grant of summary judgment to determine whether the evidence demonstrates...
