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The Statev.James Allen Barrow

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A15A0113
DecidedMay 14, 2015
Reporter332 Ga. App. 353; 772 S.E.2d 802
JudgesCourt of Appeals of Georgia, Second Division; Presiding Judge Andrews and Judges Miller and Branch; Judge Miller authored the opinion
Tags
CriminalCriminal ProcedureSentencingStatutory InterpretationRule of LenityRemand
Case Summary

James Allen Barrow pleaded guilty to manufacturing methamphetamine, but the trial court withheld adjudication under Georgia’s conditional-discharge statute for drug possession and placed him on probation. The State moved to correct the sentence, arguing that conditional discharge does not apply to a manufacturing conviction and that Barrow’s prior drug-related DUI also made him ineligible. The trial court denied the motion. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for resentencing, holding that the statute’s plain language limits conditional discharge to defendants convicted of or pleading guilty to drug possession. Eligibility turns on the offense of conviction, not the broader charges originally filed. The court declined to address the State’s alternative DUI ground because the State had omitted it from its motion in the trial court and asserted it only in appellate papers.

Opinion

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