Section 38-2-486. Disposition of records after review by convening authority; review by state judge advocate; powers; boards of review; composition

   (a) When the convening authority is the Governor, his action on the review of any record of trial shall be final.

(b) In all other cases:

   (1) Where the sentence of a special court-martial as approved by the convening authority includes a bad conduct discharge, whether or not suspended, the record shall be forwarded to the appropriate staff judge advocate or legal officer of the appropriate force of the organized militia to be reviewed in the same manner as a record of trial by general court-martial, after which the entire record with the opinion of the staff judge advocate or legal officer shall be forwarded to the state judge advocate for review;

   (2) All other special and summary court-martial records shall be forwarded to the appropriate staff judge advocate or legal officer of the appropriate force of the organized militia and shall be acted upon, transmitted, and disposed of as may be prescribed by regulations issued pursuant to this chapter.

(c) The state judge advocate shall review the record of trial in every case forwarded to him for review as provided in this Code section. If the final action of the court-martial in any case forwarded to the state judge advocate has resulted in an acquittal of all charges and specifications, the opinion of the state judge advocate shall be limited to the question of jurisdiction.

(d) In all cases reviewable by the state judge advocate under this Code section, the state judge advocate shall take final action.

(e) In any case reviewable by the state judge advocate under this Code section, the state judge advocate shall have authority to:

   (1) Act only with respect to the findings and sentence as approved by the convening authority;

   (2) Affirm only such findings of guilty, and the sentence or such part or amount of the sentence as he finds correct in law and fact, which he determines on the basis of the entire record should be approved;

   (3) Weigh the evidence, judge the credibility of witnesses, and determine controverted questions of fact, recognizing that the trial court saw and heard the witnesses;

   (4) Order a rehearing if he sets aside the findings and sentence, except where the setting aside is based on lack of sufficient evidence to support the findings;

   (5) Order that the charges be dismissed if he sets aside the findings and sentence and does not order a rehearing.

(f) In cases reviewable by the state judge advocate under this Code section, he shall instruct the convening authority to take action in accordance with his decision on the review. If he has ordered a rehearing but the convening authority finds a rehearing impracticable, he may dismiss the charges.

(g) The state judge advocate may constitute one or more boards of review, each composed of not less than three officers of the organized militia or on the state reserve list or state retired list, each of whom shall be a member of the bar of this state, which board or boards of review shall review the record of any trial by special court-martial referred to it by the state judge advocate. The boards of review shall have the same authority and powers on the review of a record as the state judge advocate has under this Code section.

Ga. L. 1955, p. 10, § 60.65.