Cuyler v. State

6 Citing cases

  1. Elkins v. State

    350 Ga. App. 816 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019)   Cited 3 times

    See, e.g. , Flores v. State , 308 Ga. App. 368, 372 (2), 707 S.E.2d 578 (2011) ("Because he has not shown that he was prejudiced by the refusal to sever, no abuse of discretion is demonstrated.").Cuyler v. State , 344 Ga. App. 532, 534 (1), 811 S.E.2d 42 (2018) (punctuation omitted); see Cain v. State , 235 Ga. 128, 128-29, 218 S.E.2d 856 (1975) ("[Because] the grant or denial of a motion to sever is left to the discretion of the trial court, its ruling will be overturned only for an abuse of discretion."); Avellaneda v.State , 261 Ga. App. 83, 87, 581 S.E.2d 701 (2003) ("Whether to grant or deny a severance should be decided on a case-by-case basis and is an issue that is left to the discretion of the trial court.").Cuyler , 344 Ga. App. at 534 (1), 811 S.E.2d 42 (punctuation omitted); see Morris v. State , 204 Ga. App. 437, 438 (1), 419 S.E.2d 733 (1992) ("Despite the benefits of joinder, it is clear that an accused’s right to a fair trial takes precedence.

  2. Thomas v. State

    355 Ga. App. 111 (Ga. Ct. App. 2020)

    "Whether to grant a mistrial based on [the introduction of] improper character evidence is within the discretion of the trial judge." Cuyler v. State , 344 Ga. App. 532, 537 (2), 811 S.E.2d 42 (2018). On appeal, we will not disturb the trial court's exercise of that discretion unless the record shows that "a mistrial is essential to preserve the defendant's right to a fair trial."

  3. Smith v. State

    354 Ga. App. 882 (Ga. Ct. App. 2020)   Cited 10 times
    Affirming conviction for rioting in penal institution without actual or threatened violence when inmates "belligerently refus[ed] to give deputies their playing cards, and then angrily curs[ed] at the deputies when the lock-down was ordered"

    Drinkard , 281 Ga. at 215, 636 S.E.2d 530 (punctuation omitted) (quoting Blockburger , 284 U.S. at 304, 52 S.Ct. 180 ).Culbreath v. State , 328 Ga. App. 153, 157 (2) (b) (ii), 761 S.E.2d 557 (2014) ; accord Cuyler v. State , 344 Ga. App. 532, 543 (4), 811 S.E.2d 42 (2018) ; see Henderson v. State , 285 Ga. 240, 244 (4), 675 S.E.2d 28 (2009) (holding that convictions for aggravated assault and armed robbery did not merge for sentencing purposes when the aggravated assault was completed outside of a home before the armed robbery began inside the home). At the time the melee at the Augusta-Richmond County jail occurred, OCGA § 16-10-56 (a) provided: "Any person legally confined to any penal institution of this state or of any political subdivision of this state who commits an unlawful act of violence or any other act in a violent or tumultuous manner commits the offense of riot in a penal institution."

  4. Johnson v. State

    355 Ga. App. 683 (Ga. Ct. App. 2020)   Cited 1 times

    Furthermore, we also consider additional facts like whether the reference to the improper character evidence is isolated and brief, whether the jury's exposure was repeated or extensive, and whether the introduction of the objectionable evidence was inadvertent or whether it was deliberately elicited by the State. Cuyler v. State , 344 Ga. App. 532, 537-538 (2), 811 S.E.2d 42 (2018) (punctuation and footnotes omitted). Here, the trial court's curative instruction was sufficient to protect Johnson from any prejudicial effect of Cavender's brief, general statements about his duties and responsibilities on the task force.

  5. Garner v. State

    346 Ga. App. 351 (Ga. Ct. App. 2018)   Cited 14 times
    Holding that corroborating evidence was not required to support defendant's rape conviction

    Jackson v. State , 321 Ga. App. 607, 610 (1), 739 S.E.2d 86 (2013) ; accord Smallwood , 334 Ga. App. at 225-26 (1), 779 S.E.2d 1.See, e.g. Taylor v. State , 303 Ga. 225, 229 (3), 811 S.E.2d 286 (2018) ("[E]ven if the witness’s testimony gives rise to the inference that the appellant had a criminal history, there is no error in denying a mistrial based upon an incidental reference to a defendant’s character."); Allen v. State , 296 Ga. 785, 788 (4), 770 S.E.2d 824 (2015) ("To the extent that the detective’s comment suggested a criminal act on [the defendant’s] part, there was no error in denying the motion for mistrial based upon the incidental reference to [the defendant’s] character."); Cuyler v. State , 344 Ga. App. 532, 540 (2), 811 S.E.2d 42 (2018) (holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying a motion for a mistrial that the defendant sought based on a single reference to his time on the "chain gang" because "a passing reference to a defendant’s previous incarceration does not necessitate a mistrial"); Smallwood , 334 Ga. App. at 226 (1), 779 S.E.2d 1 (holding that a mention of the defendant’s criminal history on a video recording did not place his character into issue, especially when it was a "brief, single, comment" that was "likely heard by the jury only once").See Jackson , 321 Ga. App. at 610 (1), 739 S.E.2d 86 (holding that counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to testimony that could be interpreted as commenting on the defendant’s character when the State did not elicit the statement and the comment was heard by the jury only once or no more than twice); Harris v. State , 191 Ga. App. 399, 399, 381 S.E.2d 602 (1989) (holding that a mere reference to the fact that the defendant’s photo

  6. Turner v. State

    815 S.E.2d 219 (Ga. Ct. App. 2018)

    And the failure to make a meritless objection does not provide a basis upon which to find ineffective assistance of counsel. See Cuyler v. State , 344 Ga. App. 532, 541 (3) (a), 811 S.E.2d 42 (2018).Moreover, at the new trial hearing counsel testified that, in his experience, contesting the value of the video games would have irritated the jury for "wasting their time[.]"