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Leitch v. Fleming

The trial court erred in considering the then-Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney's petition for a declaratory judgment challenging the DeKalb County Magistrate Court and selected magistrate judges' alleged policy of finding that hearsay evidence alone is insufficient to establish probable cause at preliminary hearings.

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The DeKalb County district attorney brought a declaratory judgment action against the county’s magistrate judges seeking guidance regarding a dispute on the proper evidentiary standards for establishing probable cause at preliminary hearings. The trial court issued a declaratory judgment in the district attorney’s favor, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. We granted the petition for writ of certiorari to consider whether declaratory judgment is an appropriate remedy for challenging evidentiary policies or practices at preliminary hearings. Because this dispute is not a civil case that presents a justiciable controversy and declaratory relief would not provide any more guidance or certainty than current case law, we conclude that declaratory relief is not an appropriate remedy. Accordingly, we reverse.

This appeal is the second appearance of this case before this Court. In 2007, then-District Attorney Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming filed petitions for the writs of mandamus and prohibition against the Magistrate Court of DeKalb County and four judges, alleging that the court had a policy declaring that hearsay evidence alone was insufficient to establish probable cause at preliminary hearings. The trial court ruled that a magistrate judge did not have the discretion to refuse to admit hearsay evidence and that a judge could find probable cause based on hearsay alone. This Court granted the magistrate court’s interlocutory application and reversed, concluding that the trial court erred in considering the petitions because the underlying subject matter concerned rulings made in criminal prosecutions from which the State could not appeal. Magistrate Court of DeKalb County v. Fleming, 284 Ga. 457 667 SE2d 356 2008 Fleming I.

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