Opinion
A24D0033
08-16-2023
DEONTA DAVID v. THE STATE
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
In 2021, Deonta David was indicted on charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, cruelty to children in the first degree, aggravated battery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. While awaiting trial, David, who is representing himself pro se, filed a special demurrer to the indictment, as well as a number of pretrial motions. On July 6, 2023, the trial court entered an order denying the special demurrer and David's motions for a change of venue, for a constitutional speedy trial, and for recusal of the trial judge. David then filed this application for discretionary appeal, seeking review of the trial court's order.
The Supreme Court of Georgia has appellate jurisdiction over "[a]ll cases in which a sentence of death was imposed or could be imposed." Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Par. III (8). Because a penalty of death may be imposed for the crimes of felony murder and malice murder, jurisdiction lies in the Supreme Court. See OCGA § 16-5-1 (c), (e) (1); State v. Murray, 286 Ga. 258, 259 (1) 687 S.E.2d 790 (2009) (where the murder count of an indictment remains pending, jurisdiction of an appeal from a pre-conviction order lies in the Supreme Court); see also State v. Thornton, 253 Ga. 524, 524 (1) (322 S.E.2d 711) (1984) (directing this Court to transfer to the Supreme Court "all cases in which either a sentence of death or of life imprisonment has been imposed upon conviction of murder, and all pre-conviction appeals in murder cases"), overruled on other grounds, Elliott v. State, 305 Ga. 179, 205 (III) (C) (i) (824 S.E.2d 265) (2019). Accordingly, this application for discretionary appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.