State v. Williams, 68915
Decision Date | 21 November 1984 |
Docket Number | No. 68915,68915 |
Citation | 172 Ga.App. 708,324 S.E.2d 557 |
Parties | The STATE v. WILLIAMS. |
Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Charles M. Ferguson, Dist. Atty., for appellant.
Jesse G. Bowles III, Cuthbert, for appellee.
After the jury returned a guilty verdict in a case in which appellee had been indicted for theft by taking, the trial court directed a verdict in favor of appellee on the ground that the applicable statute of limitation had run. It is from that order that the State brings this appeal.
1. Before the merits of the appeal may be considered, we must determine whether the State has the right to appeal from the trial court's order. OCGA § 5-7-1 delineates the instances in which the State may take an appeal in a criminal case: from an order, decision or judgment setting aside or dismissing an indictment or accusation; arresting judgment of conviction upon legal grounds; sustaining a plea or motion in bar when the defendant has not been put in jeopardy; or sustaining a motion to suppress made and ruled upon before a jury was impaneled.
State v. Williams, 246 Ga. 788(1), 272 S.E.2d 725 (1980).
2. We now turn to the merits of the State's appeal. The incident which formed the basis of the theft by taking charge occurred on January 16, 1981. The November 21, 1983, indictment alleged that the value of the goods taken was $350. At the time the offense was committed, that value would make the taking a felony (Ga. L. 1978, p. 1457, Sec. 1) with a four-year statute of limitation which would not have expired when the indictment was returned. OCGA § 17-3-1. However, when the indictment was returned, the $350 value subjected the taker to misdemeanor punishment and carried with it a two-year statute of limitation which would have run its course prior to the return of the indictment. See OCGA §§ 16-8-12 and 17-3-1....
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