Opinion
A24D0070
09-25-2023
ANTONIO EVANS v. THE STATE.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
Antonio Evans was sentenced to life in prison following his conviction for felony murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The trial court denied Evans' motion for new trial, and the Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed on appeal. Evans v. State, 275 Ga. 541 (570 S.E.2d 331) (2002). In June 2023, Evans filed an extraordinary motion for new trial. The trial court dismissed the motion on the basis that it was Evans' second extraordinary motion for new trial. Evans then filed this application for discretionary review. We lack jurisdiction.
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 crime of felony murder, jurisdiction is proper in the Supreme Court See OCGA § 16-5-1 (c), (e) (1); Neal v State, 290 Ga 563, 572 (722 S.E.2d 765) (2012) (Hunstein, C J, concurring); see also State v. Thornton, 253 Ga. 524, 524 (1) (322 S.E.2d 711) (1984) (directing this Court to transfer "all cases in which either a sentence of death or of life imprisonment has been imposed upon conviction of murder"), overruled in part on other grounds as recognized in Elliott v. State, 305 Ga. 179, 205 (III) (C) (i) (824 S.E.2d 265) (2019). The Supreme Court's jurisdiction over murder cases includes appeals from orders resolving post-judgment motions in such cases. See Simpson v. State, 292 Ga. 764, 764 (740 S.E.2d 124) (2013) (appeal from denial of motion attacking murder convictions as void).
Accordingly, this discretionary application is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court of Georgia for disposition.