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Hulettv.State

CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
Docket No.S14P0819
DecidedOctober 20, 2014
Reporter296 Ga. 49; 766 S.E.2d 1; 2014 Ga. LEXIS 817
JudgesSupreme Court of Georgia; Justice Hunstein authored; all Justices concurred
Tags
CriminalCriminal ProcedureDeath PenaltySentencingIneffective Assistance of CounselEighth AmendmentMergerReversalRemand
Case Summary

A jury convicted Donnie Allen Hulett of two malice murders and related crimes; after Hulett waived jury sentencing, the trial court imposed two death sentences. The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the murder convictions and death sentences and held that the trial court had incorrectly treated several counts as merged. The alternative felony-murder counts were vacated by operation of law; the aggravated-assault counts merged into the malice-murder convictions, but firearm possession by a convicted felon and the two armed robberies of the brothers did not. The trial court had not imposed sentences on those three valid convictions, making the merger portion of its sentencing judgment void. The Court therefore remanded for sentencing on firearm possession and both armed-robbery counts, while affirming the death sentences. It rejected Hulett’s challenges to appointed counsel, his ineffective-assistance claims, and his Eighth Amendment challenge to the delay before execution; it also reminded trial courts to record separate findings on the subparts of the statutory aggravating circumstance at issue. The judgment was affirmed in part and vacated in part, and the case was remanded for resentencing. All Justices concurred.

Opinion

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