Chambers v. State
| Decision Date | 01 May 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. S92G0082,S92G0082 |
| Citation | 262 Ga. 200,415 S.E.2d 643 |
| Parties | CHAMBERS v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
John B. Adams, Folkston, for Chambers.
Harry D. Dixon, Jr., Dist. Atty., Lucy Bell, Asst. Dist. Atty., Waycross, for the State.
We granted a writ of certiorari to the Court of Appeals to determine whether a trial court has jurisdiction to take any action in a case prior to receiving the remittitur from the appellate court. We hold that a trial court does not and, accordingly, reverse the holding of Division 1 in Chambers v. State, 201 Ga.App. 245, 410 S.E.2d 771 (1991).
Chambers was indicted in 1989 for a number of offenses. His motion to suppress certain evidence was granted by the trial court. Upon appeal by the state, the Court of Appeals issued its decision, on February 9, 1990, in State v. Chambers, 194 Ga.App. 609, 391 S.E.2d 657 (1990), holding that the trial court had erred in granting the motion to suppress. Chambers filed a motion for reconsideration which was denied on February 22, 1990 and, on March 2, 1990, he filed a notice of intention to apply to this court for a writ of certiorari.
Although the Court of Appeals had not issued the remittitur, the trial court commenced Chambers' trial on March 5, 1990. The trial resulted in a guilty verdict on March 7, 1990. Thirteen days later, the Court of Appeals issued the remittitur which was received by and filed in the clerk's office of the trial court on March 22, 1990.
Chambers filed a motion for new trial contending that the trial court lacked jurisdiction because the trial commenced before the remittitur had even been issued from the Court of Appeals. The motion for new trial was denied and, upon appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court.
1. The Court of Appeals correctly recognized that:
the superior court technically lacked the requisite jurisdiction [at the time of Chambers' trial]. [Cits.] Any proceeding so conducted "is coram non judice," and the resulting want of jurisdiction cannot be waived by conduct of counsel so as to give effect to the void judgment. [Cits.]
Chambers v. State, supra, 201 Ga.App. 245, 410 S.E.2d 771. That court also correctly pointed out that the subsequent filing of the remittitur in the clerk's office of the trial court reinvested the trial court with jurisdiction over the case. 1
2. In Knox v. State, 113 Ga. 929, 39 S.E. 330 (1901), we held that an appellate court's jurisdiction over a case "[is] at an end after the remittitur therefrom [has] been filed in the office of the [court below]" and "that the resumption of jurisdiction by a trial court follows immediately upon the reception by its clerk of the remittitur from court." Knox, 113 Ga. at 930, 932, 39 S.E. 330.
We have recognized that the better practice is for the court below to take no action in the case until the remittitur has been received, filed, and entered on the minutes of the court. Lyon v. Lyon, 103 Ga. 747, 751, 30 S.E. 575 (1898). However, where the appellate court has issued the remittitur and it has been received and filed in clerk's office of the court below, the trial court then has jurisdiction to take further action in the case. This is true, even though the remittitur...
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Levin v. State
...13, 2015 regarding the resentencing, at which time the superior court lost jurisdiction of the case. See Chambers v. State , 262 Ga. 200, 201 (1), 415 S.E.2d 643 (1992). Remittitur from that appeal was received in the superior court on February 22, 2016. Thus, the State was able to retry Le......
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McTaggart v. State
...833, 835, 415 S.E.2d 537 (1992); Chambers v. State, 201 Ga.App. 245, 246, 410 S.E.2d 771 (1991), rev'd on other grounds, 262 Ga. 200, 415 S.E.2d 643 (1992); Boatright v. State, supra at 116, 385 S.E.2d 298; Simmons v. State, 186 Ga.App. 886, 369 S.E.2d 36 (1988). In the case sub judice, the......
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State v. Brown
...until the State's appeal was resolved and the trial court received the remittitur from this Court. Chambers v. State, 262 Ga. 200, 201–202(1), (2), (3), 415 S.E.2d 643 (1992) (holding that the State's appeal of an order suppressing evidence deprived the trial court of jurisdiction to try th......
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Griffin v. State, S95A1093
...While that appeal was pending, the State clearly could not continue to prosecute Griffin in McIntosh County. See Chambers v. State, 262 Ga. 200, 202, 415 S.E.2d 643 (1992). To do so would deny Griffin protection from being forced to "run the gauntlet" a second time before his claim of doubl......