Case Name: KLINETOB v. THE STATE
Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Decision Date: 1989-12-05
Citations: 194 Ga. App. 52
Docket Number: A89A0981
Parties: KLINETOB v. THE STATE.
Judges: Carley, C. J., Banke, P. J., Birdsong, Ben-ham and Beasley, JJ., concur. Deen, P. J., McMurray, P. J., and Pope, J., dissent.
Reporter: Georgia Appeals Reports
Volume: 194
Pages: 52–55

Head Matter:
A89A0981.
KLINETOB v. THE STATE.
(389 SE2d 551)

Opinion:
Sognier, Judge.
Hugh B. Klinetob appeals from the trial court's denial of his motion for discharge and acquittal filed pursuant to OCGA § 17-7-170 (b).
Appellant was arrested on August 30, 1987 and issued two Uniform Traffic Citation, Summons, Accusation/Warnings (UTCs) charging him with the offenses of DUI and improper U-turn and directing him to appear in the Recorder's Court of Gwinnett County on September 23, 1987. On that date appellant appeared and requested that his case be bound over to state court for a jury trial. Several days later the UTCs and other documents related to his case were forwarded to the state court clerk's office, where they remained until an employee of the Gwinnett County Solicitor picked them up on November 5, 1987. Appellant filed a demand for trial pursuant to OCGA § 17-7-170 (a) in state court on December 15th and served a copy on the solicitor. Thereafter, on August 22, 1988 the solicitor filed accusations in state court charging appellant with DUI and improper U-turn. The state court judge denied appellant's subsequent motion for discharge and acquittal on the ground that his demand for trial had been premature because it was filed before the solicitor filed the accusations against him.
OCGA § 17-7-170 (a) provides that "[a]ny person against whom . an accusation is filed with the clerk . . . may enter a demand for trial." Although under the instant circumstances the UTC itself contained the necessary accusation, Majia v. State, 174 Ga. App. 432 (330 SE2d 171) (1985), here the trial court has found that no accusation was filed until August 22, 1988, as the UTC forwarded from recorder's court was only held by the state court clerk until retrieved by the solicitor five weeks later. However, the trial court failed to consider whether there devolved on the court a duty to file the accusation when it was received from recorder's court. Uniform State Court Rule 36.13 provides that "[a]U . . . accusations presented to the clerk shall be filed." (Emphasis supplied.) The dissent cites Uniform State Court Rule 26.2 (8), which provides that when a case is bound over for trial after a preliminary probable cause hearing, "all. . . papers pertaining to the case shall be forwarded to the clerk of the appropriate court having jurisdiction over the offense for delivery to the district attorney," as authorizing the procedure followed by the clerk and prosecu tor. Pretermitting the question of whether Rule 26.2 applies when a case is bound over from recorder's court for jury trial pursuant to OCGA § 40-13-23 (a), the dissent's conclusion ignores the question of whether "holding" a file until the prosecutor retrieves it, regardless of the length of time that elapses, discharges the clerk's duty to "deliver" the case to the prosecuting attorney, and also disregards Rule 36.13. However, we need not decide the question of which court official failed to carry out the obligation to file the accusation because the duty to bring the defendant to trial following arrest and accusation "rests upon the court, the prosecutor, and the clerk of court," not the defendant. Perry v. Mitchell, 253 Ga. 593, 596 (322 SE2d 273) (1984). Thus, whether the duty to file the accusation rested with the prosecutor or with the clerk, neither was entitled to withhold filing of the accusation except for a reasonable time as compelled by the volume of the court's business. This court has recognized that clerical errors may not affect a defendant's statutory right to a speedy trial. O'Neal v. State, 188 Ga. App. 270, 271 (372 SE2d 833) (1988). We find the eleven month delay in the filing of the accusation was unreasonable, and as the failure to file the accusation in a timely manner after it was transferred to the state court was attributable to a clerical error by a court official, not to any failure of appellant to follow the requirements set forth in OCGA § 17-7-170, appellant's motion for discharge and acquittal should have been granted. See Turner v. State, 188 Ga. App. 267 (372 SE2d 826) (1988); State v. Bostick, 181 Ga. App. 508 (352 SE2d 824) (1987). State v. Lipsky, 191 Ga. App. 842 (383 SE2d 204) (1989), cited by Judge Deen, does not require a different result, as there we merely held that after a DUI case is bound over to another court, the accusation must be filed before the statutory trial demand. Unlike the case at bar, in Lipsky there was no question of either an unreasonable delay in filing or a clerical error.
To hold otherwise would allow the court clerk or the solicitor to frustrate an accused's rights under OCGA § 17-7-170 by delaying the filing of the accusation previously issued by a law enforcement officer. State v. Spence, 179 Ga. App. 750, 752 (347 SE2d 612) (1986). As the statute was enacted to implement the constitutional right to a speedy trial, Hubbard v. State, 254 Ga. 694, 695 (333 SE2d 827) (1985), it should not be construed to preclude a defendant's motion for discharge and acquittal where, as here, any lack of compliance with the statutory prerequisites was due to the error of either the clerk or the prosecutor. "Since the purpose of [OCGA § 17-7-170] is to secure to defendants in criminal cases their rights guaranteed by Article 1, Section 1, Paragraph [11] of our Constitution to a speedy and public trial, the courts should seek to uphold rather than whittle away by judicial construction this and other provisions of our Bill of Rights, which secure to us the guarantees of freedom upon which this country is founded." Rider v. State, 103 Ga. App. 184, 185 (118 SE2d 749) (1961).
Judgment reversed.
Carley, C. J., Banke, P. J., Birdsong, Ben-ham and Beasley, JJ., concur. Deen, P. J., McMurray, P. J., and Pope, J., dissent.