Jeffrey G. Olarsch appeals the order of the trial court awarding attorney fees and costs of litigation pursuant to OCGA § 9-11-68, and the order dismissing his appeal of the defense verdict. The underlying renewal action was filed in May of 2004 and arose from a 2000 car accident involving Olarsch and Billy Greg Newell. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the award of attorney fees and costs and remand for further proceedings. We affirm the order dismissing the notice of appeal... The...  

Deborah Barnette and Susan Hilliard Hendrix brought a claim for malicious prosecution against Coastal Hematology & Oncology, P. C. and Dr. Brian Kim. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants, and Barnette and Hendrix appeal... In considering this appeal, we must conduct a de novo review, viewing the evidence and the inferences drawn from it in the light most favorable to Barnette and Hendrix, the nonmoving parties. (Footnotes and punctuation omitted.) Williams v. Ngo,...  

Waltrant Cash was found guilty by a jury of aggravated child molestation. He appeals following the denial of his motion for new trial... The victim, who was 16 years old at the time of trial and 15 years old when the incident giving rise to the charges was alleged to have occurred, testified that Cash was at that time married to her sister Courtney,1 and that during the summer of 2004, he also became her track coach through the Villa Rica recreational department track program. The victim...  

Following trial in Case No. A08A1414, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Richard G. Alford in the amount of $310,274 against Insurance Industry Consultants, LLC and IIC, Incorporated (hereinafter "IIC"). A judgment was later entered for that amount. IIC appeals the judgment, contending numerous errors were committed. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm... In Case No. A08A1415, Alford cross-appeals the trial court's grant of IIC's motions for directed verdict in his fraud and...  

Plaintiff/appellee Smith Mechanical Contractors, Inc. filed this action for indemnification against its insurer, defendant/appellant Owners Insurance Company, seeking to recover amounts it paid to its customer, Birdsong Peanut Company, after Birdsong's peanut cleaner was damaged while Smith Mechanical was moving it with its crane. Owners filed a motion for summary judgment, which the trial court denied. Smith Mechanical then filed a motion for summary judgment and Owners filed an...  

After BBC Land and Development, Inc. and its loan guarantors1 defaulted on loan obligations owed to the Bank of North Georgia, the Bank conducted a non-judicial foreclosure sale of real property securing the loans, and obtained an order from the Henry County Superior Court pursuant to OCGA § 44-14-161 confirming that the sale was lawfully conducted and that the property sold for at least its fair market value. BBC and the guarantors appeal from the confirmation order, and for the following...  

On appeal from his conviction for obstruction and giving a false name to a police officer, Perry Smith argues that the evidence is insufficient. We affirm... "On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, with the defendant no longer enjoying a presumption of innocence."Reese v. State, 270 Ga. App. 522, 523 (607 SE2d 165) (2004). We neither weigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of witnesses, but determine only whether,...  

In this personal injury action, David Smith appeals from the trial court's order granting partial summary judgment in favor of State Farm Insurance Company, his uninsured motorist ("UM") insurer, as to his claim for attorney fees and expenses under OCGA § 13-6-11. Smith also appeals the trial court's order granting State Farm's motion in limine to exclude evidence of his charitable activities. For the reasons that follow, we discern no error and affirm... "On appeal from a...  

Quantellius Holloway was charged with trafficking in cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute in violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act. Holloway filed a motion to suppress the drug evidence, alleging that the evidence was obtained during a police search conducted without voluntary consent. The trial court granted Holloway's motion, from which the state appeals. We discern no error and affirm... "In reviewing a trial court's decision on a motion to suppress,...  

This appeal involves the application of the Virginia Uniform Commercial Code to the sale of a repossessed vehicle that had served as collateral for a loan. American General Financial Services, Inc., the secured party, brought an action against Georgia resident Shirley Woods-Witcher, the debtor, to recover the deficiency between the amount Woods-Witcher owed and the amount American General received from the sale. Woods-Witcher counterclaimed for statutory damages, arguing that American General...  

Egerton Walter and Michele Boyer, as next friends of Jacqulyn Boyer, appeal from the trial court's order granting a motion by Angela Mitchell to enforce a settlement agreement between the parties. We affirm, for reasons that follow... In reviewing an order on a motion to enforce a settlement agreement, "we construe the evidence to uphold the trial court's judgment."1 And we will not disturb the trial court's factual findings unless they are "`clearly erroneous.'"2... So viewed,...  

Johnnie Edward Smith was charged with committing upon R. A.: kidnapping, aggravated sodomy involving his sex organs and her mouth, rape, aggravated assault with the intent to rape, and aggravated assault with a knife. A jury found him guilty of kidnapping and aggravated sodomy and not guilty of the remaining charges. Denied a new trial, Smith appeals, contending that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his kidnapping and aggravated sodomy convictions. In addition, Smith contends that the...  

A jury convicted Jobe Crawford of aggravated assault and battery. He appeals his conviction, arguing that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that the trial court erred by: failing to give cautionary instructions following improper testimony; failing to dismiss the charges; refusing to allow testimony regarding the reputation of a witness; giving an erroneous jury charge; making improper comments to the jury; allowing an improper witness to testify; failing to grant a continuance;...  

Appellant Marie Dawson's late husband, Johnny Lee Dawson, suffered respiratory arrest following cervical spine surgery and subsequently died. Dawson, individually and as a representative of the estate of her late husband, brought a medical malpractice and wrongful death action against appellees Dr. John Burkus, who performed the surgery, and Dr. Steven Leder, who provided post-operative care to the decedent. In support of her claims, Dawson relied upon the expert testimony of Dr. Karen Butler....  

This appeal involves a dispute between Richard Mullis and his former employer, Bibb County, concerning the date on which Mullis was to start receiving monthly retirement benefits from the county. When Mullis left employment with the county, he was informed that he would begin receiving benefits on one date, but the county later asserted that Mullis could not receive benefits until nine years later. The trial court granted summary judgment to the county, and Mullis appeals this ruling as to his...  

This is a dispute over property that historically was used as a soccer field and is situated in the Oakdale Commons subdivision in DeKalb County. The subdivision consists of four adjoining lots, three of which are developed. Defendants/appellees, Amy Durrell and Russell Currey, own Lot 1, on which the disputed field is located, and Lot 2, which is undeveloped. Plaintiff/appellant David Oedel owns Lot 3 and plaintiffs/appellants John de Castro and Carolyn Cash own Lot 4.1... A twenty-foot strip...  

This case of first impression involves the interpretation of the term "tobacco product manufacturer" in the Georgia Qualifying Statute,1 which was enacted as a result of nationwide litigation brought by the states over public health costs associated with smoking. We granted Carolina Tobacco Co.'s ("Carolina") application for discretionary appeal to review the superior court's affirmance of the Attorney General's ("AG") ruling that Carolina was not a "tobacco product...  

The Employees' Retirement System of Georgia ("ERS") and the Georgia Department of Public Safety ("DPS") (collectively "the Agencies") contend the trial court erred by granting summary judgment to Robert Wayne Melton and requiring them to pay attorneys fees. We agree, and reverse the grant of summary judgment and the award of attorneys fees to Melton... In Georgia,... [t]he standards applicable to motions for summary judgment are announced in Lau's Corp. v. Haskins, 261...  

Katherine Martin, pro se, appeals the trial court's judgment in favor of Imogene Croft, Ricky A. Mainor, and Shirley J. Mainor (collectively "the purchasers") in the amount of $17,719.00. In substance, Martin alleges the trial court erred by finding that the purchasers were entitled to recover from her. We agree, and reverse... Because both Martin and the purchasers are proceeding pro se, and have acted without legal representation throughout their dealings, this appeal is more...  

Jack Lamar Parks was accused on September 4, 2007, of theft by deception for obtaining money belonging to the victim by "depositing a stolen check in [her] bank account and then withdrawing United States currency." The alleged date of the theft was between August 19, 2004, and August 22, 2004. A Dekalb County jury returned a guilty verdict and Parks was sentenced as a recidivist to ten years in custody. Parks appeals his conviction, raising numerous issues regarding the evidence, the...