Bohannon v. State

I dissent because appellant is entitled to have the merits of his appeal ruled on. The procedure utilized in this case, while rarely used, demands it.

It is true that defendant could have simply sought permission to file an out-of-time appeal from the judgment and, if it was granted, come straight to this court. McAuliffe v. Rutledge, 231 Ga. 745, 746 (204 SE2d 141) (1974); Harper v. State, 154 Ga. App. 550, 551 (269 SE2d 56) (1980). Instead, he chose to first ask the trial court for a new trial.

This procedure invokes not only adjudication on questions of law but also, beyond that, the sound…