O.C.G.A.
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.
A judge who did not try the case may, if presented with a motion for new trial within 30 days from the date of the verdict or judgment sought to be set aside, allow the filing of, issue rule nisi thereon, and decide the motion either where he is presiding in the court in which the trial was had, or where he is named in the rule, or where he is otherwise authorized by law to do so.
History
(Code 1863, § 3644; Code 1868, § 3669; Code 1873, § 3720; Code 1882, § 3720; Civil Code 1895, § 5486; Civil Code 1910, § 6091; Code 1933, § 70-103; Ga. L. 1957, p. 224, § 13.)
Annotations
Law reviews. - For article, ‘‘A Discus-
sion of the 1957 Amendments to Rules of Practice and Procedure in Georgia,’’ see 19 Ga. B.J. 395 (1957).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Death of presiding judge before motion is heard does not automatically require new trial. However, language used in overruling motion will be scrutinized to determine if successor shows that judge, in overruling the motion, did not exercise any discretion in reviewing the verdict. Town of Woodland v. Carter Constr. Co., 65 Ga. App. 547, 16 S.E.2d 129 (1941). When presiding judge dies pending motion for new trial, the judge’s successor must hear and determine the motion.
Town of Woodland v. Carter Constr. Co., 65 Ga. App. 547, 16 S.E.2d 129 (1941). Judge acting in another’s place cannot grant continuance of motion ordered tried in another county. Brantley v. Hass, 69 Ga. 748 (1882). As to approval of amendments. - See Watkins v. Paine, 57 Ga. 50 (1876); Central R.R. & Banking Co. v. Pool, 95 Ga. 410, 22 S.E. 631 (1895). Cited in Fletcher v. Gillespie, 201 Ga. 377, 40 S.E.2d 45 (1946); Wallace v. Speed,
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GA RV 13 RV 4(T4-6) - EP
93 Ga. App. 120, 91 S.E.2d 53 (1955); Golden v. Credico, Inc., 124 Ga. App. 700, 185 S.E.2d 578 (1971). RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 58 Am. Jur. 2d, New Trial, § 379 et seq. C.J.S. - 66 C.J.S., New Trial, §§ 52, 181, 182, 272.
ALR. - Power of successor or substituted judge, in civil case, to render decision or enter judgment on testimony heard by predecessor, 84 ALR5th 399.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
6
cases (
3 in the last 5 years), 2003–2025 · leading case:
Wilson v. State, 805 S.E.2d 98 (Ga. 2017).
Wilson v. State, 805 S.E.2d 98 (Ga. 2017).
· cites it 2× “Quite to the contrary, our Code expressly authorizes it in OCGA § 5-5-43: “Ajudge who did not try the case may, if presented with a motion for new trial within 30 days from the date of the verdict or judgment sought to be set aside, allow the filing of, issue rule nisi thereon,…”
Kuhn v. State, 804 S.E.2d 9 (Ga. 2017).
· cites it 2× “We disagree. As an initial matter, the judge who presided over the motion for new trial hearing was originally assigned to Appellant’s criminal case and presided over his pre-trial immunity hearing, which involved evidence and testimony similar to that presented at trial.”
Weathersby v. State, 587 S.E.2d 836 (Ga. Ct. App. 2003).
· cites it 2× “We find no merit in this claim because OCGA § 5-5-43 authorizes a judge who did not try the case to decide a motion for new trial.”
Rasheed O. Jakes v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2024).
· cites it 6× “In his single enumeration of error, Jakes claims that the successor judge improperly exercised her discretion as the thirteenth juror solely because she had not presided over his trial.”
Jones v. State, 915 S.E.2d 631 (Ga. 2025).
· cites it 8× “See OCGA § 5-5-43 (“A judge who did not try the case may, if presented with a motion for new trial within 30 days from the date of the verdict or judgment sought to be set aside .”
Gabriel Garrett v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2025).
· cites it 2× “See OCGA § 5-5-43 (“A judge who did not try the case may, if presented with a motion for new trial within 30 days from the date of the verdict or judgment sought to be set aside, allow the filing of, issue rule nisi thereon, and decide the motion either where he is presiding in…”
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.