In 1995, Marvin Jack Wright pled guilty to a single count each of burglary, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, rape, aggravated sodomy, kidnapping, obstruction of a law enforcement officer, criminal damage to property in the first degree, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and was convicted of the same. The trial court sentenced him to 50 years imprisonment, with the first 30 to be served in confinement and the remainder on probation. As a condition of probation, the trial court entered an order requiring Wright, inter alia, to pay restitution of $31,911.56. Wright now appeals from the trial court’s order dismissing without prejudice his motion to modify the restitution order. Finding that the trial court had no basis for dismissing the motion, rather than deciding the same, we vacate the order of dismissal and remand the case for a determination of Wright’s motion on the merits. On appeal, we review de novo a trial court’s order of dismissal. Fox v. City of Cumming .1
Given the sparse record, in determining the relevant facts we have relied, in part, on this Court’s decision in Ga. Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co. v. Schlies ,2 which involved a civil action for damages resulting from some of the conduct underlying Wright’s convictions. That case, together with the record, show that in 1995 Wright broke into the home of his then-estranged wife, where he threatened her with a gun, forcibly detained her, and raped and sodomized her. Wright then kidnapped his wife, forcing her to drive him away from her house in her car. While driving, the wife spotted a police officer and pulled her car up next to the police vehicle, motioning for the officer to stop. The wife and Wright exited her car, and the wife explained the situation to the officer, who then attempted to detain Wright. Wright, however, jumped into the car and started the engine in an effort to flee. The officer got into the passenger side of the car and told Marvin to stop the vehicle, while the wife went to the driver’s side and also attempted to get Wright to stop the car, eventually jumping into the driver’s seat and on top of Wright. Despite these efforts, Wright managed to get the car in gear, and crashed it into an occupied building. The officer sustained serious injuries as a result of that crash; the record does not show what, if any, injuries were sustained by the wife or by the occupants of the building.
