Woods v. State

Miller, Judge.

The primary question on appeal is whether in a civil forfeiture proceeding a court may consider and grant the State’s oral motion, made and argued at an unreported calendar call, to strike the defendant’s answer for lack of proper verification. Because under OCGA § 9-11-7 (b) (1) oral motions are allowed only at hearings and trials, which do not include unrecorded calendar calls, we hold the trial court erred in considering the motion and in striking the answer and therefore vacate the judgment and remand the case.

During a search of Claude Woods’s residence, police found illegal…