Stalling v. State

Decision Date06 September 1973
Docket NumberNo. 28078,28078
Citation231 Ga. 37,200 S.E.2d 121
PartiesCharles Ross STALLING v. The STATE.
CourtGeorgia Supreme Court

Charles Ross Stalling, pro se.

Syllabus Opinion by the Court

INGRAM, Justice.

In this appeal, the appellant, an indigent prisoner in the State Penitentiary, contests the dismissal of his petition for mandamus filed in Floyd Superior Court in which an order was sought compelling the clerk of the court to furnish to him a copy of the record and transcript of trial proceedings in which he was a party. The petition does not indicate the trial proceedings of which he sought a copy nor was there disclosed whether the materials were necessary in prosecuting an appeal then pending in the appellate courts, or whether they related to prior appellate proceedings.

However, this court can take notice of the previous appeal of the appellant in this court. That appeal was from the denial by the Superior Court of Butts County of habeas corpus relief sought by the appellant on a pro se petition alleging he was denied effective assistance of counsel at his earlier criminal trial in the Superior Court of Floyd County. Appellant was convicted by a jury on November 16, 1971, of two offenses of burglary and on several theft charges from which he did not appeal. The trial court conducted a full hearing on the habeas corpus petition and, after hearing evidence, found, inter alia, that the appellant's court appointed attorney had 'conducted a very adequate investigation and very capably and properly represented the petitioner at the trial of this case.' The relief sought by appellant in the habeas corpus case was, therefore, denied by the trial court. Thereafter, appellant appealed the judgment of the trial court to this court where the record was reviewed and the trial court was affirmed with all the justices concurring. Stalling v. Ault, 229 Ga. 715, 194 S.E.2d 110 (1972).

Although it would have been better practice for the trial court to conduct a hearing on this petition for mandamus, it is evidence from the record on the previous appeal to this court that no harm was done in this instance by the dismissal for failure to state a claim, without a hearing, of the petition for mandamus brought against the Clerk of the Superior Court of Floyd County. An indigent, on appeal, is entitled as a matter of right to a free copy of the transcript of trial court proceedings in which he has been a party. Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 76 S.Ct. 585, ...

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7 cases
  • Coleman v. State
    • United States
    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • August 7, 2008
    ...as a matter of right to a free copy of the transcript of trial court proceedings in which he has been a party." Stalling v. State, 231 Ga. 37, 38, 200 S.E.2d 121 (1973), citing Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 19, 76 S.Ct. 585, 100 L.Ed. (1956) (indigent criminal defendant entitled to tria......
  • Georgia Public Defender Standards Council v. State
    • United States
    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • March 29, 2007
    ...as a matter of right to a free copy of the transcript of trial court proceedings in which he has been a party." Stalling v. State, 231 Ga. 37, 38, 200 S.E.2d 121 (1973). "The right to a free transcript arises regardless of whether the indigent defendant was represented by retained counsel a......
  • Mydell v. Clerk, Superior Court of Chatham County, 33197
    • United States
    • Georgia Supreme Court
    • March 8, 1978
    ...summary denial of the prisoner's petition based on the complaint alone, which here is sufficient to state a claim. See Stalling v. State, 231 Ga. 37, 200 S.E.2d 121 (1973). The burden, however, is on the prisoner to go forward with his The prisoner may offer to prove his case by affidavit. ......
  • Carter v. State
    • United States
    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • February 27, 1998
    ...correctly claims that there is a fundamental right to a free transcript on appeal--for an indigent defendant. Stalling v. State, 231 Ga. 37, 200 S.E.2d 121 (1973); Hall v. State, 162 Ga.App. 713, 293 S.E.2d 862 (1982). Appellant has not claimed that he is indigent, and the evidence shows th......
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