Burgess v. Meinken, A92A0484
Decision Date | 08 June 1992 |
Docket Number | No. A92A0484,A92A0484 |
Citation | 204 Ga.App. 600,420 S.E.2d 329 |
Parties | BURGESS et al. v. MEINKEN. |
Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Robert E. Wilson, Dist. Atty., Barbara B. Conroy, Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellants.
Glenn Zell, Atlanta, Rodney Zell, Macon, for appellee.
Appellee was indicted in DeKalb County but, pursuant to OCGA § 17-7-170(b), he was subsequently acquitted by operation of law. Thereafter, appellee requested appellant DeKalb County Police Department and appellant Chief of Police of DeKalb County to expunge his arrest record. When appellants declined to do so, appellee appealed to the superior court. Finding that appellee's "arrest record is inaccurate and misleading in that it does not reflect the disposition of this case," the trial court ordered that appellee's arrest record be expunged. Appellants appeal to this court pursuant to the grant of their application for a discretionary appeal. See Strohecker v. Gwinnett County Police Dept., 182 Ga.App. 853, 854(2), 357 S.E.2d 305 (1987).
In pertinent part, the applicable statute reads as follows: (Emphasis supplied.) OCGA § 35-3-37(c).
"In all interpretations of statutes, the courts shall look diligently for the intention of the General Assembly, keeping in view at all times the old law, the evil, and the remedy." (Emphasis supplied.) OCGA § 1-3-1(a). Boyles v. Steine, 224 Ga. 392, 395, 162 S.E.2d 324 (1968). Undercofler v. Colonial Pipeline Co., 114 Ga.App. 739, 743, 152 S.E.2d 768 (1966). Bibb County v. Hancock, 211 Ga. 429, 440(2), 86 S.E.2d 511 (1955).
Pursuant to OCGA § 35-3-37(c), the "remedy" for the "evil" of an inaccurate record of an arrest may be expungement. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-110. However, appellee's arrest record is not inaccurate. Appellee was arrested and there is no contention that his arrest is not accurately reflected by the record maintained by appellants. Appellee's record is, at most, merely incomplete in that it does not reflect that,...
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Meinken v. Burgess
...his arrest record expunged under OCGA § 35-3-37(c) but instead can only have his arrest record supplemented. Burgess v. Meinken, 204 Ga.App. 600, 601-02, 420 S.E.2d 329 (1992). For the reasons that follow, we In this case, Meinken was arrested for the molestation of his 3-year-old daughter.......
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...for its statutes, the best evidence of the intent of the General Assembly is the language of the statute. See Burgess v. Meinken, 204 Ga.App. 600, 420 S.E.2d 329, 330-31 (1992). Georgia's statutory scheme expressly contemplates the inclusion of the major political parties in the ballot acce......
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Burgess v. Meinken, A92A0484
...ordered the DeKalb County Police Department to expunge his arrest record, ostensibly pursuant to OCGA § 35-3-37. In Burgess v. Meinken, 204 Ga.App. 600, 420 S.E.2d 329 (1992), this court reversed the judgment of the trial court. However, on certiorari, the Supreme Court reversed the judgmen......