In the Interest Of: T. L., a Child

797 S.E.2d 185, 340 Ga. App. 733
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedFebruary 21, 2017
DocketA16A2209; A16A2210; A16A2211; A16A2212; A16A2213
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 797 S.E.2d 185 (In the Interest Of: T. L., a Child) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In the Interest Of: T. L., a Child, 797 S.E.2d 185, 340 Ga. App. 733 (Ga. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinions

BARNES, Presiding Judge.

In these related cases, the juvenile defendants filed direct appeals from the juvenile court’s orders transferring their delinquency cases to superior court for prosecution. Because the juvenile proceedings in these cases commenced after January 1, 2014, we conclude that OCGA § 15-11-564 of Georgia’s new Juvenile Code required that the defendants comply with this court’s interlocutory appeal procedures. Accordingly, given that the defendants failed to follow those procedures, we dismiss these appeals for lack of jurisdiction.

The record reflects that after a series of car break-ins, the State filed delinquency petitions in the Juvenile Court of Douglas County alleging that five juvenile defendants (J. H., A. L., T. L., J. C., and K. S.) had committed acts in July 2015 which, if committed by an adult, would have constituted 32 counts of entering an automobile with the intent to commit a theft, one count of criminal gang activity, and one count of theft by taking. The delinquency petitions were originally filed in September 2015 and were later amended.

The State filed motions to transfer the delinquency cases to the Superior Court of Douglas County for prosecution. After conducting hearings on the State’s motions, the juvenile court entered orders transferring the delinquency cases to superior court. The juvenile defendants then filed these direct appeals from the juvenile court’s transfer orders.

The State contends that the juvenile defendants’ appeals must be dismissed because they were required to proceed by interlocutory application rather than by direct appeal in light of OCGA § 15-11-564, [734]*734which was enacted as part of Georgia’s new Juvenile Code.1 That statute provides:

(a) The decision of the court regarding transfer of the case shall only be an interlocutory judgment which either a child or the prosecuting attorney, or both, have the right to have reviewed by the Court of Appeals.
(b) The pendency of an interlocutory appeal shall stay criminal proceedings in superior court. A child transferred for trial as an adult in superior court shall be detained only in those places authorized for the preadjudication detention of a child as set forth in Code Section 15-11-504.

(Emphasis supplied.) Based on the language of OCGA § 15-11-564 and the legal context in which it was enacted, we agree with the State that the juvenile defendants were required to follow this court’s interlocutory appeal procedures.

“When we consider the meaning of a statute, we must presume that the General Assembly meant what it said and said what it meant.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Deal v. Coleman, 294 Ga. 170, 172 (1) (a) (751 SE2d 337) (2013).

And where [the General Assembly] borrows terms of art in which are accumulated the legal tradition and meaning of [years] of practice, it presumably knows and adopts the cluster of ideas that were attached to each borrowed word in the body of learning from which it was taken and the meaning its use will convey to the judicial mind unless otherwise instructed.

Morissette v. United States, 342 U. S. 246, 263 (I) (72 SCt 240, 96 LE 288) (1952). See Johnson v. Bradstreet Co., 87 Ga. 79, 82 (13 SE 250) (1891) (“Where a statute uses a word which is well-known and has a definite sense at common law, or in the written law, without defining it, it will be restricted to that sense, unless it appears that it was not so intended.”) (citation and punctuation omitted).

“In our search for the meaning of a particular statutory provision, we look not only to the words of that provision, but we consider its legal context as well.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Fed. [735]*735Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Loudermilk, 295 Ga. 579, 588 (2) (761 SE2d 332) (2014). To that end, we presume that our legislature enacts statutes “with full knowledge of [the] existing law, including court decisions.” (Citation omitted.) Dove v. Dove, 285 Ga. 647, 649 (4) (680 SE2d 839) (2009).

Mindful of these principles, we turn to OCGA § 15-11-564, and, in particular, the General Assembly’s use of the word “interlocutory” in that statute. The legal term “interlocutory” means “interim or temporary; not constituting a final resolution of the whole controversy” Black’s Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014). See In re Motion of Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 269 Ga. 589, 589 (502 SE2d 720) (1998) (per curiam) (citing Black’s Law Dictionary and defining “interlocutory” as “interim” or “not final”). And Georgia courts have routinely held that a party seeking appellate review of an order viewed as interlocutory must follow the interlocutory appeal procedures in OCGA § 5-6-34 (b). See Cherry v. Coast House, 257 Ga. 403, 404 (2) (359 SE2d 904) (1987) (“[W]hen the order appealed from is an interlocutory order, the appellate court does not acquire jurisdiction unless the procedure of OCGA § 5-6-34 (b) for interlocutory appeal is followed.”). See also Gray v. Springs, 224 Ga. App. 427 (481 SE2d 3) (1997); Griffith v. Ga. Bd. of Dentistry, 175 Ga. App. 533 (333 SE2d 647) (1985). Accordingly, in light of the common legal understanding of the word “interlocutory” and its implications for appellate review, we conclude that by referring in OCGA § 15-11-564 to a transfer order as “only ... an interlocutory judgment” and as resulting in an “interlocutory appeal,” the General Assembly intended for a party seeking appeal of an order transferring a delinquency case from juvenile court to superior court to follow the interlocutory appeal procedures in cases where the new Juvenile Code applies.

When the enactment of OCGA § 15-11-564 is viewed in the specific context of our longstanding jurisprudence addressing the appellate review of transfer orders, it becomes even more clear that the General Assembly intended for appeals in this context to proceed now by interlocutory application. The general rule has long been that a trial court order transferring a case from one court to another court is interlocutory in nature and thus is not directly appealable as a final judgment under OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1). See In the Interest of W. L., 335 Ga. App. 561, 562-563 (782 SE2d 464) (2016); Mauer v. Parker Fibernet, LLC, 306 Ga. App. 160, 161 (701 SE2d599) (2010); Griffith, 175 Ga. App. at 533.

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Bluebook (online)
797 S.E.2d 185, 340 Ga. App. 733, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-interest-of-t-l-a-child-gactapp-2017.