JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Trial court erred in excluding a witness's testimony based solely on the fact that the witness was not listed on the defendant's witness list because the defendant was entitled to rely on the state's supplemental witness list as a document furnished to the defendant pursuant to the Criminal Discovery Act, O.C.G.A. § 17-16-10, and was not required to also list the witness on the defendant's own witness list in order to call the witness as a witness at trial; when the trial court excluded the testimony, it was not aware that the witness had been identified by the state on its supplemental witness list, but when ruling on the state's objection to the witness because of an alleged discovery violation on the part of the defense. The trial court did not require the state to make the requisite showing of prejudice and bad faith on the part of the defendant as required by the Act, O.C.G.A. § 17-16-6, and the state could not have shown prejudice or bad faith on the part of the defendant because the state admitted that it had the witness's report and had researched the validity of the specific tests utilized by the witness, and the error was not harmless since it could not be said that the testimony would not have made a difference in the outcome of what the trial court described as a "very, very close case." Webb v. State, 300 Ga. App. 611, 685 S.E.2d 498 (2009).

Cited in Jackson v. State, 233 Ga. App. 568, 504 S.E.2d 505 (1998).

RESEARCH REFERENCES