Gunter v. Hickman, 256 Ga. 315

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the dismissal of Gail Gunter’s successive habeas corpus petition. The court held that her claim concerning insufficient corroboration of accomplice testimony had already been litigated on direct appeal and could not be reasserted in habeas proceedings. The court also held that the alleged denial of trial severance did not rise to the level of a miscarriage of justice permitting relief in a successive petition.

Holdings

1. A habeas petitioner may not reassert a claim in habeas proceedings when the issue was actually litigated, raised, and decided on direct appeal.
2. Assuming without deciding that a miscarriage-of-justice claim may be cognizable in a successive habeas petition despite waiver under OCGA § 9-14-51, the denial of a motion for trial severance did not rise to the level of a miscarriage of justice.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Gunter could relitigate in habeas corpus her Jackson v. Virginia sufficiency-of-the-evidence claim when the issue had already been raised and decided on direct appeal.
2. Whether a claim waived under OCGA § 9-14-51 could be raised in a successive habeas petition under the miscarriage-of-justice exception in OCGA § 9-14-48(d).
3. Whether the trial court's refusal to sever Gunter's trial from her husband's trial constituted a miscarriage of justice warranting relief.

Disposition

affirmed