# C o u rt o f

A p p ea ls

o f t h e S t a te o f

G eo rg ia

ATLANTA,_

_ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _

Th e Co u rt

o f Ap p ea l s h er eb y p a s s es t h e f

o ll owi n g o r der :

A2 2 A0 36 6 . THE STATE v . CLAYTON W A YNE W ARD.

In t h i s p en d i n g traffi c p ro ceed i n g , th e St at e fi l ed a no t i c e o f a p p e al fro m t h e

s u p eri o r co u rt ’ s d i s m i ss al of it s “ Dem an d fo r J u ry Tri al

. ” Fo r reas o n s ex p l ai n ed

b el o w, h o wev er, we l ack ju ri s d i ct i o n o v er t h i s ap p eal

. Cl ay t o n W ay n e W ard was ch arg ed wi t h s ev eral t raffi c o ffen s es

. 1 W ard wai v ed

fo rm al arrai g n m en t an d tri al b y ju ry an d en tered a p l ea of n o t gu i l t y i n p ro b at e co u rt

. Th e St at e fi l ed a “ Dem an d fo r J u ry Tri al ,” s eek i n g to t ran s f e r t h e c a s e t o s u p eri o r

co u rt fo r a ju ry t ri al

, wh i ch t h e p r o b a t e co u rt d en i ed

. Th e St at e t h en ap p eal ed to

s u p eri o r co u rt

. Th e s u p eri o r co u rt d i s m i s s ed t h e ap p eal

, fi n d i n g t h at i t was an

i m p erm i s s i b le i n t erl o cu t o ry ap p eal fro m p ro b at e co u rt

, an d t ran s ferred t h e cas e b ack

t o p ro b at e co u rt fo r fu rt h er p ro ceed i n g s . Th i s d i rect ap p eal fo l l o wed

. As t h e Su p rem e C o u rt h as m ad e cl ear, “ [t ] h e St at e d o es n o t h av e a ri g h t o f

ap p eal i n cri m in al cas es , ex cep t as p ro v i d ed b y OCGA § 5 -7 -1 .” Gl en n v. S t a t e , 2 7 1

Ga. 6 04

, 6 04 (1 ) (5 2 3 SE2 d 1 3 ) (1 9 9 9 ). An d we are req ui red t o co n st ru e t h i s s t at u t e

s t ri ct l y ag ai n s t t he St at e. See i d

. at 6 0 5 (1 ). OCGA § 5 -7 -1 (a) (1 ) p erm i t s t h e St at e

t o fi le a d i rect ap p eal “ [f] ro m an o rd er

. . . s et ti n g as i d e o r d i s m i s s in g an y i n d i ct m en t

. . . [o r] accu s at i o n

. ” Al t h o u g h t h e St at e po s it s t h at th i s d irect ap p eal i s p erm i t t ed

u n d er OCGA § 5 -7 -1 (a) b ecau s e t h e t ri al co u rt o r d e r e f f e c t i vel y di s m i s s ed an

accu s at i on , t h e o rd er d i d n ot d is m i s s t h e accu s at i o n

. Rat h er, i t di s m i s s ed t h e ap p eal

1 W ard was ch arg ed wi t h v i o l at i n g O C G A § 4 0 -6 -3 9 1 (A) (1 ), d ri v i n g u n d er

t h e in fl u en ce o f al co h o l; OCGA § 4 0 -8 -7 6.1

, a s eat b e l t v i o l a ti o n ; an d OCGA §

4 0 -6 -4 8

, fai l u re t o m ai n tai n l an e. October 25, 2021o f an in t erl o cu t ory p ro b at e co u rt o rd er d en y i n g t h e St at e’ s d em an d fo r a ju ry t ri al in

s u p eri o r co u rt

. OCGA § 5 -3 -2 (a) v es t s t h e su p eri o r co u rt wi t h ap p el l at e j u ri s d i ct i o n

o v er an y pro b at e co u rt d eci s i o n o t h er t h an an o rd er ap p o i n t i n g a t em p o rary

ad m i n is t rat o r, b ut an ap p eal un d er § 5 -3 -2 is av ai l ab l e o n l y fro m a fi n al ju d g m en t

. See Dr iver v. S t a t e , 1 98 Ga. Ap p

. 6 4 3

, 6 4 4 (4 0 2 SE2 d 52 4 ) (1 9 9 1 ) (n o ri gh t o f ap p eal

t o t he s up eri o r co u rt l i es fro m an i n t erl o cu t o ry ru l i n g i n t h e p ro b at e co u rt ); S ea r s v.

S t a t e , 1 9 6 G a. Ap p

. 2 0 7

, 2 0 7 (3 9 6 SE2 d 1 ) (1 9 9 0 ) (s am e). Th e p ro b at e co u rt ’ s o rd er

h ere was n o t a fi n al ju d g m en t as t he cas e rem ai n s p e n d i n g b efo re t h at co u rt

. St ri ct co n s t ru ct i o n o f OCGA § 5 -7 -1 (a) (1 ) do es n o t p erm i t u s t o ex t en d a

d i rect a p p e a l t o an o rd er s u ch as t h i s o n e di s m i s s i ng an ap p eal of an i n t erl o cu t o ry

p ro b at e co urt o rd er. See G l en n , 2 7 1 Ga. at 6 0 5 (1 ). A cco rd i n gl y , t h i s ap p eal i s h ereb y

DISM ISSED fo r l ack o f ju ri s d i ct i o n

.

C o u r t o f A p p e a l s o f t h e S t a t e o

f G e o r g ia

C le r k ’ s O f f i c e

, A t la n t a

,

_

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I c e r ti f y t h a t t h e a b o v e i s a t r u e e x t r a c t f r o m

t h e m i n u t e s o

f t h e C o u r t o

f A p p e a l s o f G e o r g i a

.

W i t n e s s m y s ig n a t u r e a n d t h e s e a l o f s a i d c o u r t

h e r e t o a f f i x e d t h e d a y a n d y e a r l a s t a b o v e w r i t t e n

.

, C l e r k

. 10/25/2021