The Georgia Supreme Court
Has granted CERTIORARI and will hear arguments in about a month on a case where a citizen applied for a carry permit and was denied based on an "incomplete" criminal history record in the government's database, as to a misdemeanor arrest (without any conviction or other disposition shown), from nearly 40 years ago.
The Dekalb County probate judge (Hargrove) said that unless the citizen could prove what happened to his 1986 misdemeanor arrest to prove that it was either dismissed without a conviction or to prove that although he was convicted the victim in that case was not a intimate partner live in a lover or other person that would hive the incident "domestic violence" or "family violence" status... she would have to deny his GWL.
He executed an affidavit sworn under oath and notarized that the person he pointed a gun at in 1986 (earning him an arrest for pointing a gun at another) was a stranger who attacked him, and he had no relationship with that other man.
The Probate Judge said such a self-serving statement, just like the questions he answered on his GWL application form, were inadmissible and would not be considered to help prove anything. Instead she said she was looking for official government records compiled by agents of the government not any evidence that the man or his allies might present to this Probate Court!
The applicant also said in his sworn affidavit that following this arrest he was never even formally charged, nor prosecuted, by the Solicitor's office. He swore the matter was dropped. But the probate judge didn't want to hear any of that, coming from him-- she expected to see a certified official copy of a government record showing the dismissal or non-prosecution.
So after this probate judge from DeKalb County denied his carry permit he appealed to the Superior Court for a writ of mandamus, where a superior court judge forces the lower-level probate judge to follow the law and issue the permit that the applicant was fully qualified for.
The Superior Court refused to issue any writ of mandamus. That court sided with the Probate judge, saying that there was a lack of sufficient information for the probate judge to make any decision about the man's eligibility for a permit, therefore she correctly denied it.
The law-abiding Georgia citizen appealed to the Georgia Court of Appeals. They issued a ruling in November 2020 agreeing with both of the lower judges! This 3-judge appellate panel said the applicant's criminal record was ambiguous, incomplete, and thus the man's eligibility for a permit was not patently clear on the face of the government's documents.
They noted that the man had avenues available to him to clear up the government documents ahead of time before applying for a GWL, but he didn't.
As to his affidavit going into great factual detail about what happened back in 1986, the Court of Appeals said his affidavit was not part of the government's official criminal history records at the time he applied, therefore it was correct for the appropriate judge to not to give his affidavit any consideration.
So now he has appealed the matter to the Supreme Court of Georgia. The Court has granted review and will hear oral arguments near the end of September.
P.S. The attorney General of the state of Georgia, Chris Carr, has filed a brief on behalf of the citizen applicant, saying that the Probate Court and the Superior Court and the three judge panel of the Court of Appeals all got it wrong!
Has granted CERTIORARI and will hear arguments in about a month on a case where a citizen applied for a carry permit and was denied based on an "incomplete" criminal history record in the government's database, as to a misdemeanor arrest (without any conviction or other disposition shown), from nearly 40 years ago.
The Dekalb County probate judge (Hargrove) said that unless the citizen could prove what happened to his 1986 misdemeanor arrest to prove that it was either dismissed without a conviction or to prove that although he was convicted the victim in that case was not a intimate partner live in a lover or other person that would hive the incident "domestic violence" or "family violence" status... she would have to deny his GWL.
He executed an affidavit sworn under oath and notarized that the person he pointed a gun at in 1986 (earning him an arrest for pointing a gun at another) was a stranger who attacked him, and he had no relationship with that other man.
The Probate Judge said such a self-serving statement, just like the questions he answered on his GWL application form, were inadmissible and would not be considered to help prove anything. Instead she said she was looking for official government records compiled by agents of the government not any evidence that the man or his allies might present to this Probate Court!
The applicant also said in his sworn affidavit that following this arrest he was never even formally charged, nor prosecuted, by the Solicitor's office. He swore the matter was dropped. But the probate judge didn't want to hear any of that, coming from him-- she expected to see a certified official copy of a government record showing the dismissal or non-prosecution.
So after this probate judge from DeKalb County denied his carry permit he appealed to the Superior Court for a writ of mandamus, where a superior court judge forces the lower-level probate judge to follow the law and issue the permit that the applicant was fully qualified for.
The Superior Court refused to issue any writ of mandamus. That court sided with the Probate judge, saying that there was a lack of sufficient information for the probate judge to make any decision about the man's eligibility for a permit, therefore she correctly denied it.
The law-abiding Georgia citizen appealed to the Georgia Court of Appeals. They issued a ruling in November 2020 agreeing with both of the lower judges! This 3-judge appellate panel said the applicant's criminal record was ambiguous, incomplete, and thus the man's eligibility for a permit was not patently clear on the face of the government's documents.
They noted that the man had avenues available to him to clear up the government documents ahead of time before applying for a GWL, but he didn't.
As to his affidavit going into great factual detail about what happened back in 1986, the Court of Appeals said his affidavit was not part of the government's official criminal history records at the time he applied, therefore it was correct for the appropriate judge to not to give his affidavit any consideration.
So now he has appealed the matter to the Supreme Court of Georgia. The Court has granted review and will hear oral arguments near the end of September.
P.S. The attorney General of the state of Georgia, Chris Carr, has filed a brief on behalf of the citizen applicant, saying that the Probate Court and the Superior Court and the three judge panel of the Court of Appeals all got it wrong!
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