Two Bites, Different Apples: The Georgia Supreme Court Revolutionizes Forty-Year Precedent on First-Offender Appeals in <i>Howard v. State</i>

Since 1968, Georgia’s First Offender Act has provided for an alternative sentencing procedure for criminal defendants who have not previously been convicted of a felony. The Act allows trial courts to place a defendant on probation or sentence them to a term of confinement before a conviction and without entering a judgment. The significance of this procedure is that, if a defendant successfully completes the terms of their first-offender status, they are exonerated and the prosecution’s case is discharged by law. The former defendant receives no criminal conviction and their civil rights and liberties are preserved.