Court Opinion

ID: 9609510
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:28:07.300277+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:50.829871
License: Public Domain

Cooper, Judge,
dissenting.
In State v. Adamczyk, 162 Ga. App. 288 (290 SE2d 149) (1982), this court recognized that it had been unduly liberal in its construction of what constitutes a valid demand for speedy trial sufficient to invoke the extreme sanctions of OCGA § 17-7-170. As a result, the full bench held that “a demand for trial will not be considered sufficient to invoke the extreme sanction of [OCGA § 17-7-170] unless it is presented for what it is — a demand to be tried within the next succeeding term of court.” Id. at 289-290. While we noted that no particular form was required, in clear and unequivocal language, this court declared that it would no longer sanction the acquittal of defendants who failed to reference OCGA § 17-7-170 or its provisions. It is a minimal requirement to invoke such an extreme sanction. Somehow the test was expanded in State v. Prestía, 183 Ga. App. 24 (357 SE2d 829) (1987), to find a demand sufficient if it “otherwise clearly indicate[s] that it is a demand for speedy trial.” Id. at 25. Since the inclusion of this language, the cases which have succeeded Prestía bear witness to the evisceration of the rule plainly stated in Adamczyk, and we now find ourselves back where we were before Adamczyk was decided. In my view, requiring mere reference to the statute or its provisions does not constitute imposition of a particular form. In the instant case, mere inclusion of the phrase “speedy trial” is not sufficient, and the trial court was correct in denying appellants’ motion for discharge and acquittal.
I am also concerned about the majority’s reliance on Court of Ap*734peals Rule 15 (b) (1) and representations made by appellants in their appellate brief that juries were impaneled and qualified to try the case during both terms of court. The record is devoid of any such evidence, and I caution that Rule 15 should not be cited in lieu of the long-standing rule that factual allegations made in briefs but unsupported by the record will not be considered on appeal.
Decided March 14, 1994
Reconsideration denied April 1, 1994
Michael B. Perry, for appellants.
Glenn Thomas, Jr., District Attorney, John B. Johnson III, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.
I am authorized to state that Chief Judge Pope, Presiding Judge McMurray and Judge Andrews join in this dissent.