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Dudley v. State

The protections of OCGA § 17-7-52 extend to a peace officer charged with criminal misdeeds in office, even if the officer is no longer employed as a peace officer when criminal proceedings against him are commenced.

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OCGA § 17-7-521 affords certain rights, including the right to be prosecuted only upon a grand jury indictment, to peace officers charged with committing a crime alleged to have occurred while in the performance of the peace officer’s duties. We granted certiorari to the Court of Appeals in Dudley v. State, 242 Ga. App. 53 527 SE2d 912 2000, to consider whether, for purposes of entitlement to the benefits of OCGA § 17-7-52, the status of peace officer is determined at the time that the State files an accusation or seeks an indictment, rather than at the time that the alleged crime took place. We conclude, contrary to the Court of Appeals, that the protections of OCGA § 17-7-52 extend to a peace officer charged with criminal misdeeds in office, but who is no longer employed as a peace officer when the criminal proceedings against that individual are commenced.

Robert Dudley was the police chief in Pineview when he had an argument with a city councilwoman during a traffic court proceeding and tried to arrest her for alleged disorderly conduct. In so doing, Dudley sprayed the councilwoman and others in court with pepper spray. Dudley left the Pineview police department about a month after the incident. Subsequently, Dudley was charged by accusation with four counts of simple battery for using the pepper spray. He was later convicted of three of the charges. The Court of Appeals concluded, inter alia, that the trial court did not err in denying Dudley’s challenge to his prosecution upon the accusation inasmuch as Dudley was not a police officer at the time of commencement of the prosecution.2

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