Sunday, November 3, 2002
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Sunday, November 3, 2002 |
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Case over PTC ticket for alcohol charge argued at state Supreme Court
By JOHN
MUNFORD
The Georgia Supreme Court heard arguments Monday morning in a Peachtree City case over whether the city can use a traffic citation to charge a suspect with a state crime. The city is appealing a ruling by the Georgia Court of Appeals which reversed the municipal court conviction of Eric Shaver for underage possession of alcohol. Shaver's attorneys, Lloyd Walker and Joe Saia, have argued that he was improperly charged when he was issued a traffic citation for the non-traffic offense by the Peachtree City Police Department. Christy Jindra of Webb, Lindsey, Collins, Jones and Wade argued the case on behalf of Peachtree City. It is not known when the Supreme Court will issue its ruling. City Attorney Rick Lindsey said the traffic citations "provide all the constitutionally required information" for charging a person with a crime. The issue is a matter of preserving due process for those accused of violating the law, Lindsey added. When the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in the case, it specifically questioned whether the Court of Appeals erred in its previous decision to overturn Shaver's conviction. The Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Peachtree City in a similar case where a defendant was charged with underage possession of alcohol by using a traffic citation. The difference in that case was that the suspect was charged with violation of a city ordinance while Shaver was charged with violation of a state ordinance. State law empowers municipal courts to hear some minor misdemeanor cases such as underage possession of alcohol and first offense misdemeanor marijuana possession cases, Lindsey noted. 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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