A defendant in a Cobb State Court trial objected to the solicitor general recusing himself from the case, claiming that no conflict of interest existed and that he “recused himself without a hearing or the defendant’s consent.” The trial court granted her motion to disallow his recusal.
Georgia’s Court of Appeals reviewed the case during an interlocutory appeal. The Court noted that the defendant was related to a member of the Cobb solicitor’s staff, which prompted the solicitor general to recuse himself and inform Georgia’s Attorney General. The Attorney General then reassigned the defendant’s case to the Solicitor General’s Office of DeKalb County. The Court showed that Georgia law does not permit a criminal defendant to object to a “prosecuting attorney’s voluntary recusal,” and the Court also determined that the trial court did not have the authority to overstep the Attorney General’s pro tempore reassignment of DeKalb’s solicitor.
The Appeals Court overturned the trial court’s decision and granted the solicitor’s recusal.
