Richardson v. State

── Richardson v. State ── Court: Supreme Court of Georgia Date: May 19, 2026 Category: General NOTICE: This opinion is subject to modification resulting from motions for reconsideration under Supreme Court Rule 27, the Court’s reconsideration, and editorial revisions by the Reporter of Decisions. The version of the opinion published in the Advance Sheets for the Georgia Reports, designated as the “Final Copy,” will replace any prior version on the Court’s website and docket. A bound volume of the Georgia Reports will contain the final and official text of the opinion. In the Supreme Court of Georgia No. S26A0083 George Richardson v. The State On Appeal from the Superior Court of Crisp County No. 17R481 Decided: May 19, 2026 LAND, Justice. Appellant George Richardson challenges his 2021 convic- tions for malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Carnell Saintville.1 Richardson argues that the 1 Saintville was killed on or about September 5, 2015. On November 6, 2017, a Crisp County grand jury indicted Richardson, along with co-defendants Arianna Hughes and Zankee Newsome, for malice murder (Count 1), felony murder (Count 2), aggravated assault as to Saintville (Count 3), and aggra- vated assault as to Montavious McCloud (Count 4). On July 29, 2021, the State filed a notice of evidence to be used in aggravation of sentence pursuant to OCGA § 17-10-7. At a trial in August 2021, the jury found Richardson guilty of all charges. The trial court sentenced Richardson to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole for Count 1 and a term of 20 years in prison without the possibility of parole for Count 4, to run consecutively to Count 1. Count 2 was vacated by operation of law and Count 3 merged with Count 1 for sentenc- ing purposes. On November 1, 2021, Richardson filed a motion for new trial, which was amended by new counsel on April 19, 2024, July 5, 2024, and Octo- ber 7, 2024. The trial court held an evidentiary hearing on March 11, 2025, and a fourth amended motion for new trial was filed on April 21, 2025. The trial court entered a written order denying Richardson’s motion for new trial on July evidence was legally insufficient to support his convictions, that the trial court erred in denying his motion for new trial on the general grounds and in denying his motion for directed verdict at trial, and that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. For the reasons that follow, we affirm. 1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the ev- idence presented at trial shows as follows. In 2015, Montavious McCloud was working as a supervisor at a check verification com- pany in Cordele. At some point in 2015, McCloud, Carnell Saintville, and Zankee Newsome began planning to engage in a check cashing scheme. Newsome introduced McCloud and Saintville to three people he knew as “Dre, George [Richardson], and Red.” According to Newsome, Richardson “didn’t have a part with the check cashing scheme” and the “only thing he did was drive.” On August 26, 2015, Newsome’s Facebook account mes- saged McCloud’s Facebook account with photos of checks that he and a group of people were going to try to cash in Tampa, Florida later that day. Although the group was able to cash one of the fake checks, McCloud was unable to “approve” the second check. On September 4, Saintville, McCloud, and Newsome’s girl- friend, Arianna Hughes, drove to Florida to pick u