# 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 5 A2 37 4 . KI N G v . THE STATE.

On J an u ary 1 4

, 2 0 15

, M i ch ael Ki n g was ch arg ed

, v i a accu s at i o n , wi t h o n e

co u nt of us i n g h is p ro p er t y f o r t h e o u t si de s to rag e of was te m at eri al in v i o l at i o n o f

a Cl ay t o n Co u n t y o r d i n a n ce. Pri o r t o t ri al

, Ki n g m o v ed t o d i s m i s s t h e accu s at i o n,

a r g u i n g , i n t er a li a , t h at s ev eral o f t h e Cl ay t o n Co u n t y ord i n an ces rel ev an t t o h i s

p ro s ecu ti o n an d OCGA § 1 7-7 -7 1

, wh i ch p ert ai n s t o t h e fo rm o f t h e accu s at i o n , were

u n co ns t it u t i o n al

. Aft er co nd u ct i n g a h eari n g on t h e m at t e r , t h e t ri al co u rt i s s u ed an

o rd er s p eci fi cal l y d en y i n g Ki ng ’ s m ot i o n t o d i s m i s s “ o n al l g ro u n ds .” Su b s eq u en t l y ,

t h e cas e p ro ceed ed t o t ri a l

, a n d a t t h e t ri al ’ s co n cl u s i o n , t h e ju ry fo u nd Ki n g g ui l t y

o f v io l at i n g t h e o rd i n an ce. Fo l l o wi n g hi s co nv i ct i o n , Ki n g fi l ed a n a p p eal i n t h i s

Co u rt

. Nev ert h el es s , b ecau s e Ki n g ag ai n arg u es , i n t er a l i a , t h at § § 6 2 -2 0 1 (b ) (2 ); 6 2

-

2 0 2 (a); an d 6 2 -2 0 2 (e) o f t h e Co d e o f Cl ay t o n Co u nt y Ord i n an ces an d OCGA § 1 7

-

7 -7 1 (a) are u n co n s t i t u t i on al

, t h e Su p rem e Co u rt of Geo rg i a h as ex cl u s iv e ap p el l at e ju ri s d i ct i o n o f t hi s m at t er. G A

. C O N S T

. art

. IV, § V I, ¶ II (1 ) (“ T he Su p rem e Co u rt

s h al l b e a co u rt o f rev i ew an d s h a l l e x e r c i s e ex cl u s iv e ap p el l at e ju ri s d ict i o n i n

. . . [a] l l cas es i n vo l v i n g th e co n s tru ct i o n o f a treat y o r of t h e Co ns t i t u t io n o f t h e St at e o f

Geo rg i a o r o f t h e U n it ed St at es an d al l cas es i n wh i ch t h e co ns t i t u ti o n al i t y o f a l aw,

o rd i n an ce, o r co n s t i t u t i o n al p ro v i s i o n h as b een d rawn i n q ues t i o n

. . . . ” ); s ee a l s o

W i l b r o s, LLC v. St a t e , 2 9 4 G a

. 5 1 4

, 5 1 5 (7 5 5 SE2 d 1 45 ) (2 0 1 4 ). In d eed

, Ki n g

ch al l en g ed t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n al i t y o f t h e o rd i n an ces an d s t at u t e i n t h e t ri al co u rt

, an d

al t h o u g h t h e t ri al co u rt di d s p eci fy i t s reas o ns i n it s wri t ten ord er, i t ex p l i ci t l y s t at ed

t h at Ki n g ’ s m o t ion w a s den ied “ o n al l g ro u n d s.” Th u s, th e co n s t i t u t i on al q u es t i o n was November 24, 2015p ro p erl y rai s ed an d p res erv ed i n t h e t ri al co u rt

. S ee Jen ki n s v. S t a t e , 2 8 4 Ga. 6 4 2

, 6 4 3

(1 ) (6 7 0 SE2 d 4 2 5 ) (2 0 08 ) (“ A c o n s t i t u t i o n al q ues t i o n rai s ed an d d i s t i n ct l y ru l ed

u p o n i n th e t ri al co u rt n eed n o t b e red u ced t o a wri t t en o rd er o r ot h er s im il ar wri t i n g

t o i n vo k e [t h e Su p rem e] Co u rt ’ s ju ri s di c t i on .”). Fu rt h erm o re, t h es e co n s t i t u t i o n al

i s su es h av e n ot b een p rev i o u s l y res o l v ed b y th e Su p rem e Co urt

. S ee Do e v. Dep ’t of

Co r r

. , 2 2 4 Ga. Ap p . 4 9 4 , 4 9 5 (4 8 1 SE2 d 8 3 7 ) (1 9 9 7).

Acco rd i ng l y , i t i s h ereb y o rd ered t h at t hi s cas e b e t ran s ferred t o t h e Su p rem e

Co u rt o f Geo rg i a fo r res o l u t i on

.

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 t i 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 tn e s s m y s i g 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

. 11/24/2015