Court Opinion

ID: 9598842
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 01:12:29.394578+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:26:26.767984
License: Public Domain

McMurray, Presiding Judge,
dissenting.
In my view, this Court lacks jurisdiction to consider the issue raised by the State in this appeal. In criminal cases the State may appeal only under the circumstances provided by OCGA § 5-7-1. The first two sections of this statute are readily seen to be inapplicable. The proper definition of “plea in bar” as stated in State v. Land-O-Sun Dairies, 204 Ga. App. 485, 486 (419 SE2d 743), shows that OCGA § 5-7-1 (3) is inapplicable.
In State v. Strickman, 253 Ga. 287 (319 SE2d 864), the Supreme Court rejected a restrictive view of OCGA § 5-7-1 (4) and noted that “[bjeing remedial in nature, it should be construed liberally.” Id. at 288. Nonetheless, remedial construction is not a license to expand the parameters of a statute without bounds.
The Supreme Court states its holding in State v. Strickman to be “that if a defendant moves before trial to exclude evidence on the ground that it was obtained in violation of law, the grant of such a motion — whatever its name — is subject to direct appeal on the part of the state.” The circumstances of the case sub judice simply do not fit within that holding. There has been no motion to exclude evidence on the ground that it was obtained in violation of law. Instead, the grant of the motion to quash subpoena in the case sub judice has prevented the State from disregarding the marital privilege in the hope of possibly obtaining some relevant evidence at some time in the future. The Supreme Court’s language in State v. Strickman and the common understanding of a motion to suppress evidence both relate exclusively to limitations placed upon the use of evidence already obtained by the State and do not relate to attempts by the State to obtain evidence.