Mulling v. Wilson, 35681
| Decision Date | 22 April 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 35681,35681 |
| Parties | MULLING et al. v. WILSON et al. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Molly S. McKibben, Asst. Co. Atty., Anton F. Solms, Jr., Savannah, John F. M. Ranitz, Jr., Savannah, for appellants.
Brian Rogal, Savannah, John L. Cromartie, Jr., Atlanta, Rose E. Firestein, Savannah, for appellees.
This suit was brought by MacArthur Wilson on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated as a constitutional challenge to the Georgia peace bond procedures, Code Ann. § 76-201 et seq. The amended complaint seeks injunctive and declaratory relief under state law and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the chief judge of the municipal court and the sheriff and chief jailer of Chatham County.
Wilson had been found guilty on an assault charge in the Recorder's Court of Chatham County and sentenced to thirty days in jail or a $100 fine. On September 28, 1978, the victim of the assault took out a peace warrant before the defendant Mulling, Judge of the Municipal Court of Savannah, and an arrest warrant was issued pursuant to Code Ann. § 76-201. This warrant was served while Wilson was incarcerated under the assault charge, and he was retained in jail even though the $100 fine had been paid because he did not post an appearance bond on the peace warrant. On September 29, 1978, a hearing was held and Judge Mulling set a peace bond of $5,000. Wilson alleges he was financially unable to post any bond and was therefore committed again to jail. On November 1, 1978, Wilson filed this equitable petition and on November 2, 1978, Judge Mulling terminated the peace bond, releasing Wilson.
Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint on several grounds, asserting the court did not have equitable jurisdiction, that the action was moot and that the case was not a proper class action. The trial court denied the motion to dismiss, and defendants appeal.
The first question to be determined is whether the case is moot since Wilson was released by Judge Mulling pursuant to Ga.L.1969, pp. 2857, 2860, Sec. 5, which gives the Municipal Court of Savannah the authority to review and dispose of peace warrants concurrently with the superior courts of the state.
The trial court found that even though the peace bond was terminated, the case was not moot. This ruling was based on the principle pronounced in Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 95 S.Ct. 854, 43 L.Ed.2d 54 (1975), and in Sosna v. Iowa, 419 U.S. 393, 95 S.Ct. 553, 42 L.Ed.2d 532 (1975), that there are certain classes of cases which are "capable of repetition yet evading review." Gerstein was a class action challenging the Florida procedure of incarceration on a prosecutor's information for up to 30 days without a preliminary hearing. By the time the case had been appealed, the pretrial detention was terminated and the named plaintiffs had been convicted. The court noted that pretrial detention was by its nature temporary, which is also true of most peace bond cases since the bond automatically expires at the end of the next term of court unless good cause is shown for extension. Dukes v. Dukes, 119 Ga.App. 842, 168 S.E.2d 902 (1969). However, the court in Gerstein also discussed prior Florida decisions which held that a prosecutor's information foreclosed any right to a preliminary hearing and that habeas corpus could not ordinarily be used to challenge probable cause in those situations. Legality of pretrial detention is an issue which could not have been raised as a defense in the...
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I.B., In Interest of
...assuredly would result in a second dismissal by the trial court, this time on the ground of mootness." See also Mulling v. Wilson, 245 Ga. 773, 774, 267 S.E.2d 212 (1980), which addresses the trial court's ruling that an issue before it was not The same parameter of judicial power exists in......
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...1 (considering the merits of the appeal when the problem presented was "capable of repetition yet evading review"); Mulling v. Wilson, 245 Ga. 773, 774, 267 S.E.2d 212. Of course, to assert his constitutional issue before the superior court in a de novo appeal, appellant must have timely ra......
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...arguments, "we find this action does not fall within that class of cases which would inevitably evade review." Mulling v. Wilson, 245 Ga. 773, 775, 267 S.E.2d 212. Compare In re Jane Doe, 262 Ga. 389, 418 S.E.2d 3. This court "will not retain jurisdiction of a moot case to consider basic le......
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Rutledge v. State, 36028
... ... State, 232 Ga. 110, 113(2)(a), 205 S.E.2d 231, 234 (1974). Wilson v. State, 93 Ga.App. 229, 91 S.E.2d 201 (1956), distinguishes itself from the present case by its ... ...
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"garbage In, Garbage Out": the Litigation Implosion Over the Unconstitutional Organization and Jurisdiction of the City Court of Atlanta - Edward C. Brewer Iii
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