State v. Mantooth

A criminal defendant does not have standing to object to a prosecuting attorney's decision to recuse himself or herself after the prosecutor has determined that he or she has an actual or potential conflict of interest in the case.

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In this interlocutory appeal, we are asked to consider whether a criminal defendant has standing to object to a prosecuting attorney’s decision to recuse himself after the prosecutor has determined that he has an actual or potential conflict of interest in the case. For the reasons set forth below, we answer in the negative and reverse the trial court’s order vacating the recusal.

We review this issue of law de novo. See Tisdale v. City of Cumming, 326 Ga. App. 19, 20 755 SE2d 833 2014. Following her arrest in February 2013, Donna Mantooth was charged with DUI per se OCGA § 40-6-391 a 5 and an open container violation OCGA § 40-6-253. Because of Mantooth’s relationship to a member of the Cobb County Solicitor-General’s staff, the Cobb County Solicitor-General the Solicitor-General recused himself and notified the Attorney General of Georgia, pursuant to OCGA § 15-18-65, of his office’s conflict of interest in this case. The Attorney General then appointed the DeKalb County Solicitor-General to act as a solicitor-general pro tempore in the case against Mantooth. More than two years later, Mantooth moved to vacate the Solicitor-General’s recusal, arguing that there was no actual conflict of interest and that he had recused himself without a hearing or the defendant’s consent. Following a hearing, the trial court granted Mantooth’s motion and also granted the State a certificate of immediate review. We granted the State’s application for interlocutory review,1 and this appeal followed.

State v. Mantooth

A criminal defendant does not have standing to object to a prosecuting attorney's decision to recuse himself or herself after the prosecutor has determined that he or she has an actual or potential conflict of interest in the case.

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