State v. Summage

597 S.E.2d 641, 266 Ga. App. 630, 2004 Fulton County D. Rep. 1322, 2004 Ga. App. LEXIS 448
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMarch 29, 2004
DocketA03A2533
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 597 S.E.2d 641 (State v. Summage) 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
State v. Summage, 597 S.E.2d 641, 266 Ga. App. 630, 2004 Fulton County D. Rep. 1322, 2004 Ga. App. LEXIS 448 (Ga. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinions

SMITH, Chief Judge.

The State appeals from the trial court’s order granting Kerwin Lamont Summage’s motion for discharge and acquittal on speedy trial grounds. For reasons that follow, we reverse.

Although we review a trial court’s findings as to disputed facts under a clearly erroneous standard, the trial court’s application of the law to undisputed facts is subject to de novo review. See Vansant v. State, 264 Ga. 319, 320 (1) (443 SE2d 474) (1994). Viewed in this manner, the record shows that on April 30, 1998, a Cobb County grand jury indicted Summage on two counts of child molestation. Summage did not file a demand for speedy trial.

On March 18,1999, a grand jury re-indicted Summage. The first two counts of this indictment were identical to the original indictment. The indictment also added two new counts of child molestation and one count for cruelty to children in the first degree. On June 4, 1999, Summage timely filed a demand for speedy trial as to this second indictment.

On June 25, 1999, a jury found Summage guilty on Counts 1, 2, 4, and 5. Summage appealed. On March 12, 2001, this court reversed and remanded the case for a new trial. Summage v. State, 248 Ga. App. 559 (546 SE2d 910) (2001). The remittitur was filed in Cobb County Superior Court on April 16, 2001, thus obligating the State to try Summage during the March/April term, or the following May/June term, which ended on July 9. See Henry v. James, 264 Ga. 527, 531 (449 SE2d 79) (1994).

Summage fired several attorneys during the pendency of the appeal. Summage’s current attorney, Brian Steel, filed a notice of appearance on May 24, 2001, more than a month after the remittitur was filed. On June 8, 2001, Steel filed an application for leave of absence from June 29,2001 through July 13, 2001. On June 25, 2001, Steel revoked his application, and stated that he was ready for trial.

On July 13, 2001, four days following the end of the May/June term, Summage filed a motion for acquittal based on the State’s failure to try him within two terms of court as required by OCGA [631]*631§ 17-7-170. Summage argued that he had properly and timely filed a demand for speedy trial, and that he had not been timely tried.

On August 1, 2001, the court heard argument regarding Summage’s motion. The State argued that Summage did not file a demand as to the original indictment, and thus he had no valid demand in place as to the first two counts of the second indictment when he filed his demand as to the second indictment. The State also argued that Summage had waived his rights with respect to all counts in the second indictment because he had engaged in a pattern of delay by firing several different lawyers during the pendency of the appeal, and by his current counsel filing a leave of absence at the end of the term during which the State was obligated to try Summage pursuant to OCGA § 17-7-170.

In response, Summage argued that his failure to file a demand as to the original indictment did not bar him from filing a demand as to all charges in the second indictment. Summage’s counsel also represented to the court that at all times he was prepared to go to trial, but that the case was never called during the prescribed time period. He admitted that he had filed a leave of absence, but stated that he revoked it upon realizing that the end of the term was near. The jury administrator for the Cobb County Superior Court testified that jurors were impaneled and qualified to try a criminal case during the term the remittitur was filed, as well as the following term.

On April 21, 2003, the trial court ordered Summage acquitted of all charges in the second bill of indictment pursuant to OCGA § 17-7-170. The trial court found that Summage was available for trial, did nothing to delay the trial, and that he had not been tried during the term in which the remittitur was filed or during the next term of court. The trial court’s order does not mention the original indictment.

On appeal, the State sets forth two arguments. First, the State argues that Summage failed to file a timely demand for trial as to the original indictment, and thus he did not have a valid demand in place as to the first two counts of the second indictment (which, as noted earlier, were identical to the two counts of the original indictment) when he filed his demand as to the subsequent indictment. Second, the State argues that Summage’s “manipulations” impaired the State’s ability to try Summage within the time prescribed by OCGA § 17-7-170, and that he has thus waived his speedy trial rights with respect to all counts in the indictment.

1. Pursuant to OCGA § 17-7-170 (a),

[a]ny person against whom a true bill of indictment or an accusation is filed with the clerk for an offense not affecting the person’s life may enter a demand for trial at the court [632]*632term at which the indictment or accusation is filed or at the next succeeding regular court term thereafter; or, by special permission of the court, he or she may at any subsequent court term thereafter demand a trial. . . .

OCGA § 17-7-170 (b) provides:

If the person is not tried when the demand is made or at the next succeeding regular court term thereafter, provided at both court terms there were juries impaneled and qualified to try the person, the person shall be absolutely discharged and acquitted of the offense charged in the indictment or accusation.

It is undisputed that Summage failed to make a speedy trial demand as to the original indictment, but that he timely filed a demand as to the second indictment. It is also undisputed that Summage never requested leave of court to file an out-of-time demand as to the original indictment. The record shows that jurors were present- and available to serve during both relevant court terms. Nevertheless, Summage was not tried during the period prescribed by OCGA § 17-7-170, i.e., the term during which the remittitur was filed (the March/April term) or the next regular court term (the May/June term).

The State relies heavily on Clark v. State, 271 Ga. 519, 520 (520 SE2d 694) (1999). Clark involved two uniform traffic citations charging Clark with driving offenses. During the term of court following the term in which these citations were filed, the State filed an accusation and recharged Clark with the same offenses. Clark responded by filing a demand for speedy trial, without leave of court, during the next term of court. Although the State did not try Clark before the expiration of the prescribed time period, the trial court denied Clark’s motion for discharge and acquittal because his demand for trial was filed after expiration of the term of court following the term in which he was originally charged in the uniform traffic citation. This court affirmed the judgment, as did the Supreme Court of Georgia.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Rivers v. State
633 S.E.2d 74 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2006)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
597 S.E.2d 641, 266 Ga. App. 630, 2004 Fulton County D. Rep. 1322, 2004 Ga. App. LEXIS 448, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-summage-gactapp-2004.