# 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 :

A1 4 A1 51 9 . STATE OF GEORGI A v . DAVI S.

In 1 9 9 5

, ap p el lee Barry Dav i s was co n vi ct ed o f ag g rav at ed s o do m y o n a ch i l d.

In Feb ru ary 2 0 1 3

, Dav i s was p ard o n ed b y t h e Geo rg i a Bo ard of Pard o n s an d Paro l es

(“ t h e Bo ard ”). Aft er Dav i s was rel eas ed fro m p ri s o n

, he was arres ted an d i n d i ct ed fo r

fai l i n g t o co m

p ly wi t h t h e req u i rem e n t s o f th e s ex o ffen d er reg i s t rat i o n s t at u t e,

OCGA § 4 2 -1 -1 2

. Th e St at e t hen s o u g h t t o s u b po en a t h e Bo ard ’ s reco rd s o n Dav i s

fo r t he p u rp o s e of s h o wi n g t h e gran d ju ry t h e Bo ard ’ s l ack o f d i l i gen ce in p ard o n i n g

Dav is

. T h e Bo ard m o v ed to q u as h t h e s u bp o en a, an d a h eari n g was h el d o n Feb ru ary

2 4

, 2 0 1 4

. Two d ay s l a ter, on Feb ru ary 2 6

, 20 1 4, t h e gran d ju ry i n d i ct ed D av i s fo r

v i o l at i n g t h e s ex o ffen d er reg i s trat i on st at u te. On M arch 2 0

, 20 1 4

, t h e t ri al co u rt fi l ed

an o rd er g ran ti n g t h e Bo ard ’ s m o t i o n o n t h e g ro u n d t h at t h e Bo ard ’ s reco rd s were n ot

rel ev an t t o t h e p ro ceed i n g s befo re t h e g ran d ju ry

. In t h i s ap p eal fro m t he t ri al co urt ’ s

g ran t o f t h e m o ti o n t o q uas h t h e s ub p o en a, t h e At t o rn ey Gen eral

, rep res en t i n g a

Bo ard m em

b er, h as fi l ed a m o ti o n t o d i s m i s s t h e ap p eal as m o ot

.

W e m us t d i s m is s an ap peal i f t h e q ues t i o n p res en t ed has b eco m e m o ot

. OCGA

§ 5 -6 -4 8 (b ) (3 ); s ee al so Pi mp er v. S t a t e of Ga

. , 2 74 Ga. 6 2 4

, 6 2 6 ( 55 5 SE2 d 4 5 9 )

(2 0 0 1) (an ap p eal b e c o m e s m o o t wh en i t s eek s t o d et erm i n e an i ss u e w h i ch

, i f

res o l ved

, “ c a n n o t h a v e an y p ract i cal effect o n t h e u n d erl y i n g co nt ro v ers y

, o r wh en

s u ch res o l u t io n w i l l d et erm i n e o n l y ab st ract q u es t i on s n o t ari s i n g u p o n ex i s t i n g fact s

o r ri gh t s ”). Sp eci fi cal l y

, an d as t h i s Co u rt h el d in F r o el i ch v. St a te

, 2 1 0 Ga. Ap p

. 6 4 7,

6 4 9 (4 3 7 SE2 d 3 5 8) (1 9 9 3 ), an ap p eal fro m a t ri al co u rt ’ s ru l in g o n a m o t i o n t o q u as h

a s u b po en a t o ap p ear b efo re a g ran d ju ry b eco m es m o o t wh en t he gran d ju ry i s s u es

an i n d ict m en t i n t h e m at t er. Id

. at 6 4 9

. December 03, 2014Th e t ri al co u rt n o t ed t h at t h e Bo ard ’ s d o cu m en ts were “ no t rel e v a n t ” t o t h e

i n q u i ry befo re t h e g ran d j u r y, w h i ch was “ t o d et erm i n e wh et her t h ere i s su ffi ci en t

ev i d en ce t o in d i ct ” D av i s fo r v i o l at i ng t h e s ex o ffen d er reg i s t rat i o n l aw. Bu t ev en

as s u m in g t h at th e Bo ard ’ s d o cu m en t s o n Dav i s ’ s ag g rav at ed s o d o m y cas e m i g h t b e

rel ev an t t o t h e s ex o ffen d er reg i s t rat i o n ch arg e, Dav i s h as n o w b een i n d i ct ed o n t h at

ch arg e, an d t h e t ri al co urt q u as h ed t h e s ub p oen a on l y fo r pu rp o s es o f t h e gran d ju ry

p ro ceed in g s . W e are n o t au t h o ri zed t o g i v e an ad v i so ry o p i n i on o n t he v al i d i t y

o f a

s u b p oen a fo r t he Bo ard ’ s d o cu m en t s fo r p u rp o s es of t h e ch arg e n o w p en d i n g ag ai n s t

Dav is wh en t h e tri al co u rt ex p li ci t l y d ecl in ed t o ad d res s th at q ues t i o n

. W e t h erefo re

DISM ISS t h i s ap p eal as M O OT. Fr o el i ch , 2 1 0 Ga. Ap p . at 6 4 9

.

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 fy 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 tn e s s m y s i g n a t u r e a n d th 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

.

2 12/03/2014