Update on Sansom Odom Appeal 1st DCA opinion 09-5158

Well if you remember the October 15th Post on the Motion to Dismiss charges against Sansom and Odom, we predicted the odds of a reversal on appeal would be slim, and the IST DCA has just turned down the appeal as to Sansom and Odom as one that that State had no jurisdiction to file.  Sansom09-5158 T he Rationale: “Plainly, the circuit court’s order here does not dismiss an indictment or any count thereof, and because there is otherwise no statutory authority for the state to appeal in this circumstance, we are without jurisdiction.” Interestingly, they have yet to rule on the Richburg  appeal, because the trial judge in that order did dismiss a count in the indictment and so the State did have jurisdiction to appeal.

Well, as a practical matter, this means that the SA has a greatly weakened case against Sansom and Odom, (as noted earlier, probably not without reason) and if there is an acquittal in the remaining portion of the case, suspect it is unlikely that an appeal of these initial matters will be taken at that time.  SA now has to decide whether the case is even worth bringing on the remaining grounds.