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State v. Sterling

State Court properly ruled that it did not have jurisdiction over shoplifting accusation, given plain language of OCGA 16-8-14 and defendant's three prior shoplifting convictions, one in Georgia and two in Arizona.

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The State appeals from the State Court of Gwinnett County’s dismissal of an accusation for lack of jurisdiction. See OCGA § 5-7-1 a 1. The procedural posture of this case is as follows:

The Office of the Solicitor General of Gwinnett County drew an accusation against Kevin Thomas Sterling charging him with two counts of misdemeanor shoplifting. OCGA § 16-8-14 b 1. The case went to trial. While the jury was deliberating, the trial judge was informed by the State that Sterling had three prior convictions for shoplifting. The National Crime Information Center “NCIC” printout on Sterling was produced by the State. The printout showed that Sterling had two shoplifting convictions in Arizona and one shoplifting conviction in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Thereafter, the jury indicated that they had reached a verdict. The trial court found that the State Court of Gwinnett County did not have jurisdiction over the instant case because, under OCGA § 16-8-14 b 1 C and this Court’s decision in Lynn v. State, 236 Ga. App. 600, 602-603 512 SE2d 695 1999, Sterling’s three prior shoplifting convictions “rendered the instant shoplifting charge a felony.” Lynn v. State, supra at 603 3.1 Accordingly, the trial court would not permit the jury to return the verdict, and the court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction. The State appeals from the trial court’s ruling. Held:

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