Supreme Court of Georgia
Elliott v. the State.
February 18, 2019824 S.E.2d 265
Summary
The Supreme Court of Georgia reaffirmed its Olevik holding that Paragraph XVI of the Georgia Constitution protects individuals from being compelled to perform incriminating acts, including submitting to a state-administered breath test, rejecting the State's request to overrule it. Applying original-public-meaning analysis to the provision's 1877 precursor and the presumptions that its settled meaning carried forward through subsequent constitutions, the Court further held that Paragraph XVI prohibits the State from admitting evidence that a defendant refused the breath test or from drawing adverse inferences from that refusal. Because Paragraph XVI affords a right to refuse that the Fifth Amendment does not, OCGA §§ 40-5-67.1 (b) and 40-6-392 (d) — which authorize admission of refusal evidence — were declared unconstitutional to that extent, and the trial court's denial of Elliott's motion to suppress was reversed. Justice Boggs, joined by Justices Blackwell and Bethel, concurred in full but wrote separately to clarify that blood tests and administrative license suspension remain unaffected while portions of the implied consent notice become problematic, urging legislative revision.