Court Opinion

ID: 9845400
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:21:07.470223+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:16:06.038338
License: Public Domain

Nichols, Justice,
dissenting.
I would continue to follow the decision in State v. Wiley, 233 Ga. 316 (210 SE2d 790) (1974). Wiley holds that there is a distinction between the probation imposed under the First Offender Statute (Code Ann. § 27-2727) and that imposed under the Statewide Probation Act (Code Ann. § 27-2702 et seq.) The distinction is this: the probation entered under the First Offender Statute is preliminary only, and it is entered with the defendant’s consent. The First Offender Statute specifically says that the trial judge may "without entering a judgment of guilt and with the consent of the defendant, defer further proceeding and place the defendant on probation.” Placing a defendant on probation under the First Offender Statute is premised upon the concept of deferral. The first probation is not technically a sentence, rather it is a deferral of any sentence being imposed. This deferral continues so long as the defendant does not violate the *839terms of his probation. However, if the defendant fails to meet these terms, the deferral of sentence is ended, and the trial judge may impose any sentence authorized by the original offense. Because of this important distinction, and because the purpose of the First Offender Statute is to give the trial judge wide latitude in dealing with first offenders, I must disagree , with the majority’s decision and its failure to recognize these factors. I would hold that a sentence imposed upon a first offender after revocation of his probation should not be reduced by the time he served on probation. The sentence should run from the date it is imposed. See 76-16 Op. Atty. Gen. 24. See generally ABA Standards for Criminal Justice, Probation § 1.1 (f) (Approved Draft, 1970). To hold as the majority does obviates any need for a special First Offender Statute in that the effect of the decision is to apply the Statewide Probation Act completely in lieu of first offender treatment.
For the above reasons, I must respectfully dissent.
I am authorized to state that Justice Marshall joins in this dissent.