State v. Mullins

Jacqueline Mullins and her husband Terrell Mullins filed a plea in bar asserting that their indictment for theft was barred by the applicable four-year statute of limitation under OCGA § 17-3-1 c. The trial court granted the plea in bar and the State appeals. The State contends that the trial court erred in applying OCGA § 17-3-1 c instead of OCGA § 17-3-2.2, which the State argues creates a 15-year statute of limitation when the victim is over the age of 65. For the following reasons, we affirm.

On appeal from the grant or denial of a plea in bar, “where the evidence is uncontroverted and no question regarding the credibility of witnesses is presented as here, we review de novo the trial court’s application of the law to the undisputed facts.” Punctuation and footnote omitted. Barlowe v. State, 286 Ga. App. 133 648 SE2d 471 2007. “The State has the burden of proving that the case is not barred by the statute of limitation.” Citations and punctuation omitted. State v. Bair, 303 Ga. App. 183 692 SE2d 806 2010.