State v. Singh

731 S.E.2d 649, 291 Ga. 525, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 2778, 2012 WL 3888193, 2012 Ga. LEXIS 691
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedSeptember 10, 2012
DocketS12A0852, S12X0973
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 731 S.E.2d 649 (State v. Singh) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Singh, 731 S.E.2d 649, 291 Ga. 525, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 2778, 2012 WL 3888193, 2012 Ga. LEXIS 691 (Ga. 2012).

Opinion

Benham, Justice.

The State of Georgia ex rel. Tracy Graham-Lawson, District Attorney for the Clayton County Judicial Circuit, filed an in personam action pursuant to OCGA § 16-14-6 (b)1 of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (Georgia RICO Act), OCGA § 16-14-1 et seq., against Hargurtag Singh and his company Rajan Singh, LLC (collectively, “Singh”), seeking equitable relief afforded by OCGA § 16-14-6 (a) (l)-(4), including injunctive relief to stop the alienation of Singh’s property and the appointment of a receiver over Singh’s business and property.2 The complaint also sought the forfeiture of certain property as defendants in rem pursuanttoOCGA § 16-14-7. As the basis forrelief, the State’s complaint alleged that Singh was engaging in illegal gambling activity at its Clayton County business, Pure Gas Station, by paying out cash winnings to persons who played electronic gaming devices located in the Pure Gas convenience store. The State also alleged that the business was an underground commercial gambling establishment as defined by OCGA § 16-14-3 (9) (A) (xvii). On the same day the action was brought, the trial court granted the State’s request that cash and equipment be seized and that certain assets be frozen; granted the State’s request for a temporary restraining order; and [526]*526granted the State’s request that a receiver be placed in control of the business. The State and Singh subsequently entered into a consent agreement whereby Singh was allowed to resume operating the business under certain conditions and under the receiver’s supervision. Hargurtag Singh (“Mr. Singh”) later moved to dismiss the action on two grounds: (1) that the complaint failed to state a claim under the Georgia RICO Act, and (2) that the State’s in personam forfeiture claims were unconstitutional. On May 11, 2011, the trial court declined to dismiss the complaint pursuant to OCGA § 9-11-12 (b) (6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, reasoning that the State had sufficiently alleged violations of OCGA §§ 16-12-22 and 16-12-28. Relying on this Court’s decision in Cisco v. State of Ga., 285 Ga. 656 (680 SE2d 831) (2009) and Chief Justice Hunstein’s concurrence in Pittman v. State of Ga., 288 Ga. 589 (706 SE2d 398) (2011), the trial court dismissed the State’s in personam claims (Counts 1, 3, and 4) because it determined that all civil in personam claims under the RICO statute were unconstitutional. The State appealed, and Mr. Singh filed a cross-appeal.

1. Mr. Singh has moved to dismiss the appeal, contending that this Court lacks jurisdiction because the State failed to file an application for interlocutory review as required by OCGA § 5-6-34 (b). “ ‘It is incumbent upon this Court to inquire into its own jurisdiction.’ [Cits.]” Jenkins v. State, 284 Ga. 642 (670 SE2d 425) (2008). When some, but not all, claims are dismissed in a case, such dismissal is typically not directly appealable. First Christ Holiness Church v. Owens Temple First Christ Holiness Church, 282 Ga. 883, 884 (655 SE2d 605) (2008). However, the appealability of an order is ultimately determined by its substance and effect, not its nomenclature. Id. at 885. Here, the State contends that when the trial court found the proceeding pursuant to OCGA § 16-14-6 to be unconstitutional and dismissed the claims against the in personam defendants, the ruling effectively dismissed the temporary injunctive relief and the receivership as to all defendants. As such, the State argues it was entitled to a direct appeal pursuant to OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (4) and was not required to seek interlocutory review pursuant to OCGA § 5-6-34 (b). We agree. OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (4) provides that appeals may be taken from “[a] 11 judgments or orders granting or refusing applications for receivers or for interlocutory or final injunctions.” Since equitable relief cannot be had against defendants in rem (Knott v. Evans, 280 Ga. 515 (2) (630 SE2d 402) (2006)), the ruling effectively denied all injunctive and equitable relief as to all defendants. As such, the trial court’s order falls into the category of direct appeals allowed [527]*527pursuant to OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (4), and the case is properly before this Court. Accordingly, Mr. Singh’s motion to dismiss the State’s appeal is denied.

2. In Case No. S12A0852, the State contends the trial court erred when it dismissed the OCGA § 16-14-6 claims against the in person-am defendants on the grounds that such claims under Georgia’s RICO Act were unconstitutional. The trial court based its judgment on our ruling in Cisco v. State of Ga., supra, and on Chief Justice Hunstein’s concurrence in Pittman v. State, supra. In Cisco, we held unconstitutional OCGA § 16-14-7 (m), which allowed for property allegedly used in a criminal enterprise to be forfeited in personam prior to any indictment or conviction of the defendant.3 Although such a forfeiture action was deigned by the legislature to be governed by the Civil Practice Act, we reasoned that an in personam forfeiture action under OCGA § 16-14-7 (m) was criminal and punitive in nature such that constitutional safeguards were required to be applied as they are applied in criminal proceedings. 285 Ga. at 663. In the absence of such safeguards, we could not uphold OCGA § 16-14-7 (m). In Pittman, supra, 288 Ga. at 594, we made no decisions regarding the constitutionality of OCGA § 16-14-6, but Justice Hunstein stated in her concurrence:

[N]othingin [OCGA § 16-14-6] authorizes an“endrun” around our holding in Cisco.

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Bluebook (online)
731 S.E.2d 649, 291 Ga. 525, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 2778, 2012 WL 3888193, 2012 Ga. LEXIS 691, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-singh-ga-2012.