Opinion
S06A1550.
Decided: January 8, 2007.
On November 9, 2005, the trial court, relying on OCGA § 5-6-48 (c), dismissed the State's appeal of a February 2001 ruling that barred the trial of the appellee, Maurice Glover, on the ground that his constitutional right to a speedy trial had been violated. The State appeals from the order dismissing its appeal. Because an order dismissing an appeal is not an order that the State has a right to appeal under OCGA § 5-7-1, the State's appeal is hereby dismissed. Appeal dismissed. All the Justices concur.
Under OCGA § 5-6-48 (c), a trial court may dismiss an appeal when a party causes an inexcusable and unreasonable delay in the filing of the transcript or when a party causes an unreasonable delay in the transmission of the record to the appellate court that was "inexcusable and was caused by the failure of the party to pay costs in the trial court."
Glover was indicted in Fulton County Superior Court on April 8, 1997, for various crimes that allegedly were committed on February 25, 1994.
See Glenn v. State, 271 Ga. 604, 604-605 ( 523 SE2d 13) (1999) (the State has a right of appeal in criminal cases only from the types of orders specified in OCGA § 5-7-1, and OCGA § 5-7-1 must be construed strictly against the State).