ATLANTA - The Supreme Court of Georgia (SCOGA) is to hear appeals Tuesday in a civil suit involving Wayne Poultry Company of Oakwood and a Toccoa murder conviction.<br />
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In the civil case, the defendant that was sued in Fulton County by Wayne Poultry but later received a favorable verdict is appealing the judge's ruling denying the company's request that it be reimbursed nearly $3 million in legal fees that it cost to defend itself.<br />
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The suit stemmed from a fire in 2003 at Wayne Poultry, a poultry processing plant in Oakwood,. In 2006, Wayne Farms, LLC, which owned the plant, sued Crane Co., a wall-covering manufacturer, alleging that Crane's negligence caused the spread of the fire. In 2008, Wayne Farms and its insurance companies offered prior to trial to settle the case for $50 million. In 2009, Crane made a counteroffer of $500,000. According to court documents, Wayne Farms did not respond and by law, the counteroffer was rejected, and the case went to trial. <br />
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In 2011, the insurers dismissed their claims against Crane. In May 2012, after seven weeks of trial and five hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Crane. Crane then submitted a motion asking the court to order Wayne Farms to pay its attorneys' fees and expenses which amounted to $2.8 million. The trial court denied the motion. Crane then appealed to the Georgia Court of Appeals, which split 6-to-6 with half the judges ruling in Wayne Farms' favor and half ruling in Crane's favor.<br />
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Crane argues the trial court erred in denying its request for attorneys' fees by misapplying a ruling in another case and the denial should be overruled.<br />
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But, attorneys for Wayne Farms and the insurance companies argue the trial court made the correct ruling in denying Crane's request for attorneys' fees. <br />
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<b>TOCCOA CASE</b><br />
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In the Toccoa murder case, state prosecutors are appealing a Stephens County judge's decision granting a new trial to a man convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.<br />
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Steve Sims, Jr., was convicted of killing a friend of his former girlfriend. Dana Shawn Hancock died after being shot three times after Kim Motes, the former girlfriend, got into an argument with Sims. Hancock was with Motes when the confrontation occurred.<br />
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On Sept. 28, 2012, a Stephens County jury convicted Sims of felony murder, aggravated assault, and gun charges. He was sentenced to life plus five years in prison. Sims' attorney filed a motion requesting a new trial, and in May 2014, a judge granted it, finding that his trial attorney was ineffective because did not questions some of the comments may by prosecutors.<br />
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The State argues the trial court erred in granting Sims' motion for a new trial because it failed to consider other Supreme Court rulings in similar cases<br />
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Sims' attorney argues the trial court properly granted Sims a new trial based on the prosecutor's improper comments about Sims' pre-arrest silence and failure to come forward with evidence. <br />
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