State v. Arroyo, 315 Ga. 582

Jerry Arroyo was charged with trafficking in cocaine and moved pretrial to suppress evidence obtained under a search warrant, arguing the warrant relied on an unlawful dog‑sniff alert in the curtilage of his apartment.
The trial court reserved ruling before trial, then denied the motion after the jury was impaneled and sworn; later, after the State rested, the court sua sponte granted the suppression, found the dog had been in the curtilage, and ordered a mistrial.
The State appealed the suppression order under OCGA § 5-7-1(a)(4) (permitting certain State appeals from orders suppressing evidence made and ruled upon before jury impaneling or jeopardy).
The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court; the Supreme Court granted certiorari to address (1) whether the Court of Appeals had jurisdiction and (2) whether the suppression ruling was correct.
The Supreme Court held OCGA § 5-7-1(a)(4) did not authorize the State’s appeal because, although the motion was made pretrial, it was not ruled upon until after the jury was impaneled and jeopardy attached; therefore the Court of Appeals lacked jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court vacated the Court of Appeals’ judgment and remanded with instructions to return the case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with that jurisdictional holding.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether OCGA § 5-7-1(a)(4) authorized the State's appeal of a suppression order	State: appeal authorized because motion was made pretrial and the mistrial restored pretrial status, permitting appeal	Arroyo: appeal unauthorized because the court did not rule until after jury impaneling and jeopardy attached	Held: Appeal not authorized; statute requires motion to be both made and ruled upon before impaneling or jeopardy; Court of Appeals lacked jurisdiction
Whether the trial court’s midtrial suppression ruling should be reviewed on the merits (dog sniff/curtilage issue)	State: suppression ruling was erroneous and should be reviewed and reversed	Arroyo: suppression valid because dog alerted within curtilage	Held: Merits not reached—appellate courts lack jurisdiction because OCGA § 5-7-1(a)(4) conditions were not met

State v. Wheeler, 310 Ga. 72 (appellate jurisdiction under OCGA § 5-7-1(a) is limited to the avenues the statute authorizes)
Rios v. State, 311 Ga. 639 (jeopardy attaches when jury is impaneled and sworn)
United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. 564 (bench‑trial jeopardy principle)
Langley v. State, 313 Ga. 141 (statutory text given plain meaning)
Bell v. Hargrove, 313 Ga. 30 (interpretation limited to clear statutory text)
State v. Burton, 314 Ga. 637 (addressed merits of a suppression appeal post‑mistrial but did not resolve jurisdictional authorization under § 5-7-1(a)(4))
Wolfe v. Bd. of Regents of the Univ. System of Ga., 300 Ga. 223 (decisions that do not address jurisdiction are not authoritative on jurisdictional issues)