Max Power
Max Power is the Editor-in-Chief of Undoing Time. You can reach him at [email protected] or by calling 866-664-3052
In this Georgia Criminal Caselaw Roundup we’ll be discussing
the latest developments in Georgia criminal law, criminal appeals, and
post-conviction relief.
Cases we’ll cover include Medical records, right to privacy, search warrant, BAC, blood alcohol content, motion to suppress, and more.
The Georgia Criminal Caselaw Roundup is a blog and video podcast summarizing the latest developments in criminal law, criminal appeals, and post-conviction relief in the State of Georgia. Each week we digest the latest reversed convictions from the Georgia Supreme Court and the Georgia Court of Appeals
This is a FREE service designed to report to you the cutting edge of developments in Georgia criminal law, appeals, and post-conviction relief.
GEORGIA SUPREME COURT
CLICK TO READ Joseph Robert Gates v. State of Georgia, Docket # S23A1158
The Supreme Court of Georgia has concluded that the State violated Joseph Albert Gates, Sr.’s right to privacy under Article I, Section I, Paragraph I of the Georgia Constitution when the State obtained his medical records via an ex parte court order, instead of a warrant, for prosecutorial purposes following a 2022 motor vehicle collision.
Therefore, the Supreme Court has reversed an Effingham County trial court’s denial of Gates’s motion to suppress the use of his medical records at trial.
On appeal, Gates contended that his medical records were protected by the Georgia Constitution’s right to privacy and that the State’s use of an ex parte court order to obtain his medical records was akin to the use of an ex parte subpoena, which the Supreme Court had held violated the constitutional right to privacy, in a 2000 case, King v. State.
The State, represented in this case by the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, argued that Gates lacked a right to privacy in his blood alcohol content (BAC) test results because they came from blood tests performed by a hospital in the course of Gates’s medical treatment following his collision, rather than from tests instigated by the State.
Today’s unanimous opinion, authored by Justice Carla Wong McMillian, holds that under previous case law, Gates has a right to privacy in his medical records, including the BAC test results. The opinion concludes that the State’s use of an ex parte court order to obtain Gates’s medical records, including his BAC test results, “is not materially different from the use of the ex parte subpoena that we struck down” in the previously mentioned King case, in part because “there is no evidence in the appellate record that the ex parte court order was based on probable cause to justify the search, or that the order fully complied with the statutory requirements for issuance of a search warrant.” (Georgia Code §§ 17-5-20 and 17-5-32)
Attorney for Appellant (Gates): Eric F. Kramer
Attorneys for Appellee (State): Daphne J. Totten, Ogeechee Judicial Circuit District Attorney; Keith McIntyre, Sr. Asst. D.A.
GEORGIA COURT OF APPEALS
No reversals reported
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SPECIFIC SEARCH TERMS (TAGS)
Medical records, right to privacy, search warrant, BAC, blood alcohol content, motion to suppress
