Ford v. StateFord v. State
- Reporters:
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- Before:
- Barnes
Following a bench trial, Karen Ford appeals her conviction for three counts of cruelty to animals. She contends that the trial court erred in denying her motion to dismiss the accusаtion and that the evidence was insufficient. Upon our review, we affirm.
The Chatham County District Attorney filed an accusation against Ford charging her with three counts of cruelty to animals on June 19, 2007, for causing “the unjustifiable physical pain or suffering of a dog by an act or omission to wit by failing to provide adequate food or water or medical care.” Ford demurred to the аccusation, and the trial court denied the motion. The order denying the motion is not included in the record; however, the transcript of what was designated as a court “announcemеnt” contained an acknowledgment from the trial court that the motion was denied. On October 6, 2009, following a bench trial, Ford was found guilty and sentenced to one year of probation аnd 200 hours of community service.
1. Ford first contends that the accusation was fatally defective in that it lacked specificity, and thus subjected her to double jeopardy. She argues that the accusation was intrinsically defective because all of the counts were worded identically and thus it is uncertain as to whether she is being charged with abusing three separate dogs or the same dog three separate occasions. Ford also argues that the accusation lacked “legal specificity” because the individual counts do not identify whiсh “dog” she is accused of treating cruelly. We do not agree.
The true test of the sufficiency of an indictment or accusation or citation is not whether it could have been madе more definite and certain or, for that matter, perfect, but whether it contains the elements of the offense intended to be charged, and sufficiently apprises the defendant оf what he must be prepared to meet, and in case any other proceedings are taken against him for a similar offense, whether the record shows with accuracy to what extent he may plead a former acquittal or conviction.
(Citation and punctuation omitted.)
Ross v. State,
In
Smith v. State,
[t]he accusation identified the animals by species . . . and distinguished between similarly described animals on the basis of living and dead animals. [Also,] [t]he misconduct by Sirmans was set out in each count. It strains credulity to assert that Sirmans did not know the speсific offense with which he was charged or that such language does not allege criminal misconduct. Overly technical niceties of pleading are no longer required so long as thе accusation is sufficient to be easily understood by the jury or is substantially in the language of the statute. Thus an accusation is sufficient if it charges the commission of an offense in plain terms and the nature of the offense is sufficiently described to permit both the accused and the jury to understand the crime charged in the accusation.
(Punctuation omitted.) Id. at 256 (5). In
Military Circle Pet Center No. 94 v. State,
Although Ford argues that the accusation as written could subject her to double jeоpardy because she could face prosecution for the same crime again because the animals are not identified, the accusation clearly specified that the acts were committed “on or about the 19th day of June 2007,” and that the dogs were deprived of food, water, and medical care. Morever, pictures of the subject dogs were introduced at trial. Even were the accusation couched in more descriptive terms such as the breed or color as argued by Ford, the same issue as to the uniqueness of thе dog would be present because color and breed, while identifying characteristics, are not unique to a specific dog.
2. Ford also contends that the trial court erred in denying hеr motion for a directed verdict because the circumstantial evidence was insufficient to sustain her conviction as the evidence did not establish that she had a duty to feed or water the dogs. She acknowledges that the trial transcript is not included with the record. However, Ford appears to argue that the record before the court, including briefs submitted to the trial court in support of her directed verdict motion and the police report, is adequate for this Court to make a sufficiency determination.
Where a trial is not reportеd as referred to in subsections (b) and (c) of this Code section or where for any other reason the transcript of the proceedings is not obtainable and a transcript of evidence and proceedings is prepared from recollection, the agreement of the parties thereto or their counsel, entered thereon, shall entitle such transсript to be filed as a part of the record in the same manner and with the same binding effect as a transcript filed by the court reporter as referred to in subsection (e) of this Codе section. In case of the inability of the parties to agree as to the correctness of such transcript, the decision of the trial judge thereon shall be final and not subject tо review; and, if the trial judge is unable to recall what transpired,the judge shall enter an order stating that fact.
Here, it is clear that Ford’s trial was not transcribed, and it does not appear from the record that Ford or her apрointed attorney requested that the trial be transcribed. The record includes two letters from her attorney to the court reporter requesting the trial transcript. Trial counsel avеrred that the court reporter later told him that “he could find no recordings of the trial and sentencing of Karen Ford.”
On December 3, 2009, Ford filed a “motion to perfect the record for purposes of appeal
Ford made no further attempt to avail herself of the right to reconstruct the record under
Thus, “[t]here being no transcript of the trial, we are bound to assume that [Ford’s convictions were] supported by sufficient evidence.”
Goodwin v. State,
3. Absent a trial transcript, we also find no merit to Ford’s remaining enumerations of error.
Judgment affirmed.