Opinion
A24A0697
01-24-2024
DEONTA DAVID v. THE STATE.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
In 2021, Deonta David was indicted on multiple charges including murder. David, who is representing himself, has filed in several pre-trial motions. On October 30, 2023, the trial court entered a "Second Omnibus Order" on David's motions. David then filed this appeal.
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 appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.