State v. Johnson, 292 Ga. 409

Johnson, then 15, was arrested Oct 1, 2010 for alleged murder of his grandmother and detained in a youth facility until Oct 11, 2010; released on $50,000 bond with home confinement and electronic monitoring under OCGA § 17-6-1.1.
May 26, 2011, Johnson was indicted for murder in Whitfield County Superior Court.
In Nov 2011, Johnson moved to transfer to the juvenile court under OCGA § 17-7-50.1, arguing detention included youth-detention and bond monitoring time.
Trial court (June 28, 2012) denied dismissal of the indictment but granted transfer to juvenile court, ruling home confinement and electronic monitoring qualified as detention.
State appealed the transfer order; court held the State cannot appeal a transfer order under OCGA § 17-7-50.1(b) and dismissed the appeal.
Johnson’s murder charge carried a life sentence, making transfer under OCGA § 15-11-28(b)(2)(B) inapplicable.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the State may appeal a transfer order under OCGA § 17-7-50.1(b)	State contends transfer orders are appealable under 5-7-1(a)	State lacks explicit authorization to appeal 17-7-50.1(b) transfers	State cannot appeal; appeal dismissed

State v. Caffee, 291 Ga. 31 (2012) (State appeals rights are specific; not granted here)
Fair v. State, 288 Ga. 244 (2010) (General Assembly enacts statutes with knowledge of law; amendments inferred)
Walker v. State, 290 Ga. 696 (2012) (Construction avoidance of surplusage; avoid interpreting as meaning untethered)