After Kory Gore was stabbed to death in DeKalb County and his vehicle taken, law enforcement officers in Nash County, North Carolina spotted the vehicle being driven by Patrick Lynch, and a high-speed chase ensued. Lynch eventually left the vehicle and fled. The DeKalb County Police Department was notified, and Detectives Kevin Farmer and Shane Cheek traveled to Nash County to investigate. After a brief manhunt, Lynch was found, taken into custody, and transported to the Nash County Sheriff’s Department. He was interviewed there by the DeKalb County detectives, and gave them an inculpatory statement. Lynch was charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and theft by taking. At pre-trial hearings, during which Lynch and Detective Cheek testified, the trial court denied the State’s motion to present similar transaction evidence, suppressed Lynch’s pre-trial statement on voluntariness grounds, granted his motion to suppress fingerprint evidence, and denied the State’s motion to reconsider and reopen the evidence at the hearing held pursuant to Jackson v. Denno , 378 U. S. 368 84 SC 1774, 12 LE2d 908 1964. In extensive oral comments, the trial court found that the conduct of Nash County officers prior to the interview by the DeKalb County detectives included beating, use of a taser, removal of Lynch’s clothes, and withholding of medical attention, constituted duress and coercion, and caused Lynch to give a statement in order to leave Nash County and obtain medical attention.
After the State requested a written order on the suppression of the fingerprint and the statement, the trial court stated that “the record speaks for itself” and never entered a written order. The State directly appeals pursuant to OCGA § 5-7-1 a 4 from the orders suppressing Lynch’s pre-trial statement and the fingerprint evidence, although the State concedes that the latter issue is now moot. See State v. Morrell , 281 Ga. 152 2 635 SE2d 716 2006 State has right to appeal from order suppressing a defendant’s statement; State v. Stanfield , 290 Ga. App. 62, 63 1 658 SE2d 837 2008 appeal involving exclusion of a statement on voluntariness grounds is no exception to OCGA § 5-7-1 a 4. Even though oral orders normally cannot be appealed, the State nevertheless was authorized to bring this appeal because “the transcript affirmatively shows that the State requested the trial court to put the oral orders in written form and that the trial court refused to do so.” State v. Morrell , supra at 153 2.
