James Brandley Bearden v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: March 13, 2020
• Docket: A20A0093
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ March 09, 2020

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A20A0093. JAMES BRANDLEY BEARDEN v. THE STATE.

James Brandley Bearden was convicted by a jury of two counts of aggravated sodomy, two counts of incest, and four counts of sexual battery. Bearden filed a motion for new trial, arguing, among other things, that the trial court’s admission of prior act evidence under OCGA § 24-4-413 (a) to show propensity violated his right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The trial court denied the motion for new trial. Bearden filed this appeal. The Supreme Court “has exclusive jurisdiction over all cases involving construction of the Constitution of the State of Georgia and of the United States and all cases in which the constitutionality of a law, ordinance, or constitutional provision has been called into question.” Atlanta Independent School System v. Lane, 266 Ga. 657, 657 (1) (469 SE2d 22) (1996) (citing Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Par. II (1)). Because the trial court rejected Bearden’s constitutionality argument, it appears that jurisdiction over this appeal may lie in the Supreme Court. As the Supreme Court has the ultimate responsibility for determining appellate jurisdiction, see Saxton v. Coastal Dialysis & Med. Clinic, 267 Ga. 177, 178 (476 SE2d 587) (1996), this appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 03/09/2020 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.