O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 17-7-96 (2019)

Prosecuting officer to enter arraignment and plea on indictment or accusation

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)

Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.

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The arraignment and plea of the person accused of committing a crime shall be entered on the indictment or accusation by the prosecuting attorney or other person acting as prosecuting officer on the part of the state.

History

Laws 1833, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 835; Code 1863, § 4528; Code

1868, § 4547; Code 1873, § 4641; Code 1882, § 4641; Penal Code 1895, § 949;

Penal Code 1910, § 974; Code 1933, § 27-1407. U.S. Code. - Arraignment and pleas,

Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rules 10 and 11.

Annotations

JUDICIAL DECISIONS District attorney is ordinarily the prosecuting officer. - In criminal proceedings initiated by indictment by the grand jury, the solicitor general (now district attorney) is ordinarily the prosecuting officer for the state. Curtis v. State, 99 Ga. App. 732, 109 S.E.2d 868 (1959). Signature of the defendant is not required on the plea entered on the indictment because the signature by the solicitor general (now district attorney) is sufficient. Brantley v. State, 121 Ga. App. 79, 172 S.E.2d 852 (1970). Signature of the defendant is not required on the plea entered on the indictment. When the indictment showed clearly that the district attorney entered and signed this statement: ‘‘The Defendant Vaughn Baker waives being formally arraigned and pleads not guilty,’’ this satisfied the requirements of the statutes and the rights of the defendant at trial. Baker v. State, 202 Ga. App. 892, 416 S.E.2d 295, cert. denied, 202 Ga. App. 905, 416 S.E.2d 295 (1992).

Entries made when arraignment waived. - When arraignment is waived, the solicitor general (now district attorney) may enter this fact and the plea of not guilty on the indictment and an issue is made for trial. No further pleading need be done by the defendant. Tarver v. State, 95 Ga. 222, 21 S.E. 381 (1894). Effect of entry when arraignment and plea have not actually taken place. - When the solicitor general (now district attorney) enters on the indictment arraignment and plea when by inadvertence there has been neither arraignment nor plea, and as a result there is really no issue before the court, the solicitor general (now district attorney) may enter a nolle prosequi at any time before the introduction of evidence. In such a case, there being no issue, the defendant is not entitled to a verdict of not guilty. Bryans v. State, 34 Ga. 323 (1866). Cited in Goforth v. Wigley, 178 Ga. App. 558, 343 S.E.2d 788 (1986).

RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 21 Am. Jur. 2d, Criminal Law, § 572.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 4 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1989–2022 · leading case: Gomillion v. State, 512 S.E.2d 640 (Ga. Ct. App. 1999).

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Gomillion v. State, 512 S.E.2d 640 (Ga. Ct. App. 1999). · cites it 2× “…to decide an ineffective assistance of counsel claim. 3 This was the prosecutor’s error, not the defense attorney’s. OCGA § 17-7-96.”

State v. Fly, 387 S.E.2d 347 (Ga. Ct. App. 1989). · cites it 2× “The court found as fact that he was arraigned and pled not guilty on January 6, 1989, although the prosecuting officer did not physically enter the arraignment and plea on the accusation as he or she was mandated to do pursuant to OCGA § 17-7-96. The case was set for bench trial…”

Baker v. State, 416 S.E.2d 295 (Ga. Ct. App. 1992). · cites it 2× “OCGA § 17-7-96 provides: “The arraignment and plea .”

Tyrone Steven Watson v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 2× “OCGA § 17-7-96, which governs the joining of issue, provides that “[t]he arraignment and plea of the person accused of committing a crime shall be entered on the indictment or accusation by the prosecuting attorney or other person acting as prosecuting officer on the part of the…”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.