Summary
expressing inclination in an appropriate case "to grant a petition for certiorari asking this Court to reconsider its equal protection holding in Mason v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. , 283 Ga. 271, 273-275, 658 S.E.2d 603, as summarily extended to claims by criminal defendants in Mitchell v. State , 301 Ga. 563, 571-572, 802 S.E.2d 217"
Summary of this case from Monroe v. StateOpinion
S21A0115
11-02-2020
John Thomas WOODS v. The STATE.
Hunter Joseph Rodgers, Keegan Christian Gary, Paulding County Public Defender's Office, 280 Constitution Blvd Suite 1086, Dallas, Georgia 30132, for Appellant. Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Department of Law, 40 Capitol Square, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30334, Anthony Brett Williams, Donald R. Donovan, Paulding County District Attorney's Office, 280 Constitution Blvd., Room 2072, Dallas, Georgia 30132, for Appellee. Mark Aaron Loudon-Brown, Southern Center for Human Rights, 83 Poplar Street NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, James C. Dugan, Gabrielle Antonello, Wilkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York 10019, M. Chris Fabricant, Innocence Project, 40 Worth Street Suite 704, New York, New York 10013, for Amicus Appellant.
Hunter Joseph Rodgers, Keegan Christian Gary, Paulding County Public Defender's Office, 280 Constitution Blvd Suite 1086, Dallas, Georgia 30132, for Appellant.
Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Department of Law, 40 Capitol Square, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30334, Anthony Brett Williams, Donald R. Donovan, Paulding County District Attorney's Office, 280 Constitution Blvd., Room 2072, Dallas, Georgia 30132, for Appellee.
Mark Aaron Loudon-Brown, Southern Center for Human Rights, 83 Poplar Street NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, James C. Dugan, Gabrielle Antonello, Wilkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York 10019, M. Chris Fabricant, Innocence Project, 40 Worth Street Suite 704, New York, New York 10013, for Amicus Appellant.
Appellant was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol (less safe), failure to maintain lane, and driving too fast for conditions, and he appeals, seeking to invoke this Court's jurisdiction over constitutional questions on the ground that the trial court rejected his claim that his right to equal protection was violated by application in his case of the lower standard for admitting expert witness testimony in criminal cases, see OCGA § 24-7-707, as opposed to the more stringent standard applied in civil cases, see OCGA § 24-7-702. However, this Court has previously rejected similar equal protection challenges, see Mason v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. , 283 Ga. 271, 658 S.E.2d 603 (2008) ; Mitchell v. State , 301 Ga. 563, 571-572 (4), 802 S.E.2d 217 (2017), disapproved in part on other grounds in State v. Turnquest , 305 Ga. 758, 775 n.15, 827 S.E.2d 865 (2019), and appellant's argument herein seeks merely to challenge the correctness of those decisions. Because this Court lacks jurisdiction over constitutional challenges to laws previously held to be constitutional against the same attack, see Zarate-Martinez v. Echemendia , 299 Ga. 301, 304, 788 S.E.2d 405 (2016), and because challenges to the correctness of this Court's decisions do not fall within the scope of this Court's subject matter jurisdiction, see generally Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Par. II and III ; OCGA § 15-3-3.1, appellant's equal protection argument fails to invoke this Court's appellate jurisdiction. Should Appellant be dissatisfied with the decision of the Court of Appeals on this issue, however, he will have the opportunity to seek review via certiorari.
In addition, the remainder of the arguments that appellant makes on appeal require the mere application of well settled constitutional principles to the facts of his case. Therefore, those arguments also provide no anchor for this Court's appellate jurisdiction. City of Decatur v. DeKalb County , 284 Ga. 434, 436, 668 S.E.2d 247 (2008) (the Court of Appeals has jurisdiction over cases "that involve the application, in a general sense, of unquestioned and unambiguous provisions of the Constitution to a given state of facts," quoting Pollard v. State , 229 Ga. 698, 194 S.E.2d 107 (1972) ). For all of the reasons stated above, this Court transfers this appeal to the Court of Appeals.
All the Justices concur.
NAHMIAS, Presiding Justice, concurring.
I agree that this appeal should be transferred to the Court of Appeals at this point, but if that court affirms Woods's convictions, I would be inclined to grant a petition for certiorari asking this Court to reconsider its equal protection holding in Mason v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. , 283 Ga. 271, 273-275, 658 S.E.2d 603 (2008), as summarily extended to claims by criminal defendants in Mitchell v. State , 301 Ga. 563, 571-572, 802 S.E.2d 217 (2017).
I am authorized to state that Justice Blackwell and Justice Peterson join in this concurrence.