State v. Clements

NAHMIAS, Justice,

concurring in part and concurring specially in part.

I join the majority opinion except for Division 4, which I join in the judgment only for the reasons given in my dissent in Gibson v. State, 288 Ga. 617, 620 (706 SE2d 412) (2011). It is nice to see the Court so quickly starting to chip away at Gibson, even if the process is somewhat awkward. To sidestep Gibson, the majority relies on Bearden v. State, 159 Ga. App. 892 (285 SE2d 606) (1981), a case not cited by the Gibson majority. But to do that, the majority has to overrule another Court of Appeals case very similar to Bearden, see Price v. State, 149 Ga. App. 397 (254 SE2d 512) (1979), even though the Gibson majority cited Price favorably, see 288 Ga. at 619. In any event, the result is right, and perhaps this case presages the day when the Court will not just distinguish Gibson but overrule it.

I am authorized to state that Presiding Justice Carley joins in this opinion.