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Moranv.The State

CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
Docket No.S17A0967
DecidedOctober 2, 2017
JudgesSupreme Court of Georgia
Tags
CriminalCriminal LawEvidenceDigital EvidenceFourth AmendmentSearch and SeizureSufficiency of the EvidenceTales From the CryptMurder & Mayhem
Case Summary

Misty Sunshine Moran was convicted of murder and related offenses after a taxi driver was shot during a planned robbery. The State presented her admissions, testimony from an accomplice, firearms evidence, and photographs of text messages taken from her cellphone by a law-enforcement officer who obtained the phone from Moran’s probation officer. Moran challenged the sufficiency of the evidence and the admission of the cellphone photographs, including the legality of the phone’s acquisition. The Supreme Court of Georgia held that the evidence authorized the jury to find malice from Moran’s close-range shooting of the victim as he tried to escape, along with her admissions and the corroborating physical evidence. The court also held that the record did not show an unlawful acquisition and that Moran’s probation condition authorized warrantless searches when supported by reasonable suspicion. Because authorities had reasonable suspicion that she was involved in the murder, the trial court did not err in admitting the photographs. The court affirmed.

Opinion

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