Court Opinion

ID: 9919290
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-01-17 21:02:52.904382+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:04:48.324762
License: Public Domain

Court of Appeals
of the State of Georgia

                                        ATLANTA,____________________
                                                 January 17, 2024

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A23A1702. THE STATE v. MD NAZMUL ISLAM.

      Md Nazmul Islam filed a motion for return of property pursuant to OCGA
§ 17-5-30, seeking the return of Delta-8 THC gummies that were seized from his
store during the execution of a search warrant. The trial court issued an order granting
the motion, concluding that the State’s seizure of the gummies was unlawful because
the gummies were not illegal. The State then filed this appeal of the trial court’s
order, relying on OCGA § 5-7-1 (a) (4) as its basis to appeal.
      “Appeals by the State in criminal cases are construed strictly against the State
and the State may not appeal any issue in a criminal case, whether by direct or
discretionary appeal, unless that issue is listed in OCGA § 5-7-1.” State v. Cash, 298
Ga. 90, 91 (1) (a) (779 SE2d 603) (2015) (punctuation and emphasis omitted). OCGA
§ 5-7-1 (a) (4) allows the State to appeal “[f]rom an order, decision, or judgment
suppressing or excluding evidence illegally seized . . . in the case of motions made
and ruled upon prior to the impaneling of a jury or the defendant being put in
jeopardy, whichever occurs first.” (Emphasis supplied). This Court has previously
held that OCGA § 5-7-1 (a) (4) did not authorize an appeal by the State of an order
granting the defendant’s motion for return of property, “because the State [was] not
appealing from the trial court’s order granting [the defendant’s] motion to suppress
the seized evidence and [was] not challenging that ruling, but instead [was] appealing
from the subsequent order compelling the return of the seized property to [the
defendant].” State v. McIntyre, 191 Ga. App. 565, 565-566 (382 SE2d 669) (1989);
see also King v. State, 264 Ga. 282, 283 n. 1 (443 SE2d 844) (1994) (noting that the
State lacked the right to appeal an order granting the defendant’s motion for the return
of property). Here, the trial court’s order required the State to return the gummies
based on the conclusion that the State’s seizure of the property was unlawful, but it
did not suppress or exclude any evidence. Thus, OCGA § 5-7-1 (a) (4) does not
authorize this appeal. Because no other statutory provision authorizes this appeal, the
appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

                                        Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
                                               Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________
                                                                         01/17/2024
                                               I certify that the above is a true extract from
                                        the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia.
                                                Witness my signature and the seal of said court
                                        hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

                                                                                       , Clerk.