Ling v. State

HUNSTEIN, Chief Justice.

After a Spalding County jury convicted her of one count of cruelty to children in the first degree, Annie Ling, whose native language is Mandarin Chinese, filed a motion for new trial, arguing that her trial counsel was ineffective in failing to secure an interpreter for trial and in relying on her husband to help convey the State’s last minute plea agreement offer. The trial court issued an order summarily denying Ling’s motion without explanation, and the Court of Appeals affirmed in Ling v. State, 300 Ga. App. 726 (686 SE2d 356) (2009). We granted certiorari to…