Martin v. State

394 S.E.2d 551, 195 Ga. App. 548, 1990 Ga. App. LEXIS 622
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedApril 23, 1990
DocketA90A0156
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 394 S.E.2d 551 (Martin v. State) 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
Martin v. State, 394 S.E.2d 551, 195 Ga. App. 548, 1990 Ga. App. LEXIS 622 (Ga. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

Carley, Chief Judge.

Appellant was tried before a jury and found guilty of speeding and driving under the influence in violation of OCGA § 40-6-391 (a) (4). He appeals from the judgments of conviction and sentences entered by the trial court on the jury’s guilty verdicts.

1. “Defense counsel has concluded his arguments as to each enumeration of error by stating the trial court’s action violated defendant’s rights under certain designated sections of the United States and Georgia Constitutions. It behooves counsel appearing before this court to recognize that rote repetition of constitutional provisions is totally ineffective in raising a constitutional issue for this court’s determination. [Cits.] A constitutional issue cannot be considered when asserted for the first time on appeal but must be clearly raised in the *549 trial court and distinctly ruled upon there. [Cit.] Contentions regarding a constitutional issue which were not made below are thus not passed upon here.” Harbin v. State, 193 Ga. App. 248-49 (1) (387 SE2d 367) (1989).

2. The trial court’s denial of appellant’s motion to quash the accusation is enumerated as error.

The traffic citations were sufficient to inform appellant of the charges against him, even though they merely referred to the applicable statutes by number. “[T]he accusation [s] in effect incorporated the terms of the applicable code section [s] that [appellant] was charged with having violated. [Appellant] could not admit the allegation^] that his acts were ‘in violation of [the specified code sections],’ and yet not be guilty of the offense [s] of [speeding and driving under the influence]. [Cit.]” (Emphasis in original.) State v. Howell, 194 Ga. App. 594, 595 (391 SE2d 415) (1990). “Every accusation which states the offense in the terms and language of the law or so plainly that the nature of the offense charged may be easily understood by the jury shall be deemed sufficiently technical and correct.” OCGA § 17-7-71 (c). This statute “and the standards of due process, govern the requirements of the [accusation] . . . , and these requirements were satisfied in the accusations in question.” State v. Military Circle &c. No. 94, 257 Ga. 388, 390 (360 SE2d 248) (1987).

Appellant’s further contention that the accusation failed to charge him with the crime of driving under the influence is without merit. “[T]he intent of the legislature in amending OCGA § 40-6-391 was clearly not the repeal of criminal sanctions for driving under the influence of alcohol. Appellant[’s] defense based thereon was properly rejected by the trial court.” Proo v. State, 192 Ga. App. 169, 170 (384 SE2d 197) (1989).

3. Seeking to exclude the results of his intoximeter test, appellant filed a motion to suppress and motion in limine. The failure of the trial court to hold a hearing on this motion is enumerated as error.

“Appellant was clearly not entitled to a pre-trial hearing on such grounds of his motion as had alleged the State’s non-compliance with either OCGA § 40-6-392 or administrative regulations concerning the administration of a blood test. Such grounds for holding evidence to be inadmissible may be raised only by way of a motion in limine. [Cit.] ‘ “The trial court has an absolute right to refuse to decide the admissibility of evidence, allegedly violative of some ordinary rule of evidence, prior to trial. [Cits.]” [Cit.]’ [Cit.] At the trial itself, appellant did not renew his motion for an evidentiary hearing outside the presence of the jury on such grounds of his pre-trial motion as had alleged non-compliance with OCGA § 40-6-392 or the administrative regulations concerning the administration of a blood test. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in failing to hold such a hearing to *550 determine the admissibility of the evidence and testimony as against such contentions.” Sapp v. State, 184 Ga. App. 527, 530 (6) (362 SE2d 406) (1987).

Likewise, appellant was not entitled to a pre-trial hearing pursuant to OCGA § 17-5-30. That statute “ ‘furnishes a procedural device for the protection of constitutional guarantees against unreasonable search and seizure only.’ [Cit.]” State v. Johnston, 249 Ga. 413 (1) (291 SE2d 543) (1982). The trial court correctly relied upon Cadle v. State, 131 Ga. App. 175 (205 SE2d 529) (1974) and concluded that appellant’s “motion to suppress did not state facts showing that the search and seizure were illegal. Rather the motion contains only a series of conclusions unsupported by statements of fact. Accordingly, the motion did not meet the statutory requirements of OCGA § 17-5-30 (b), and the trial court did not err in its disposition of the motion. [Cits.]” Boatright v. State, 192 Ga. App. 112, 118 (8) (385 SE2d 298) (1989).

4. The denial of the motion to suppress and motion in limine is also separately enumerated as error. As discussed in Division 3, however, the trial court did not, and was not required to, rule on the merits of the motions before trial. Appellant never renewed the motions during trial. It follows that the motions were never denied and that this enumeration is without merit. See Lightsey v. State, 188 Ga. App. 801, 803 (2) (374 SE2d 335) (1988).

5. The trial court’s refusal to require the State to produce a radio log and an intoximeter log pursuant to OCGA § 24-10-26 is enumerated as error.

OCGA § 24-10-26 applies only to material which is in the possession, custody or control of another party. The materials at issue here are not of the type reasonably expected to be found in the custody of the assistant solicitor who was preparing the case against appellant. The assistant solicitor stated that he did not possess the requested materials and appellant made no showing to the contrary. Accordingly, this enumeration is without merit. See Ross v. State, 192 Ga. App. 850 (2) (386 SE2d 721) (1989); Calloway v. State, 191 Ga. App. 383, 384 (2) (381 SE2d 598) (1989).

6. The trial court’s imposition of limitations on the testimony of certain defense witnesses is enumerated as error.

A defense witness was not allowed to testify that, after ingesting acetone, an intoximeter test of his breath showed an alcohol concentration of 0.05 grams.

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Bluebook (online)
394 S.E.2d 551, 195 Ga. App. 548, 1990 Ga. App. LEXIS 622, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martin-v-state-gactapp-1990.