Friday, July 5, 2002
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Friday, July 5, 2002 |
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Ga. Appeals Court upholds PTC conviction for underage possession of alcohol By JOHN
MUNFORD
The Georgia Court of Appeals has denied a petition to overturn a conviction in Peachtree City Municipal Court for underage possession of alcohol. Attorneys for Allison Beamon argued that she was improperly cited since she was written a ticket by the police officer instead of being issued an accusation. But the Appeals Court ruled that Beamon was properly cited with the "traffic ticket" because she was charged with violating a city ordinance and not a state law. Months ago, in a similar case, the appeals court ruled in favor of a defendant who claimed he was improperly cited by Peachtree City. In that case, Eric Shaver was charged with violating a state law, meaning that he should have been charged with an accusation signed by the city solicitor, the court ruled. The city is appealing that case to the Georgia Supreme Court with the support of many other Georgia jurisdictions who have also usee the state's Uniform Traffic Citation to prosecute misdemeanor cases in lieu of arresting the suspect. The Georgia Supreme Court will hear argument on the case in October. In May, a new Georgia law was signed that allows police to use state traffic citations to prosecute alleged violations of state law. But that law doesn't retroactively cover previous cases, meaning prior municipal court convictions could be called into question.
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