Opinion
A24A0154
09-11-2023
MORAN VASQUEZ HERNAN-ELIAS v. THE STATE.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
A jury found Moran Vasquez Hernan-Elias guilty of trafficking in cocaine, and this Court affirmed the conviction on appeal. See Case No. A16A0810 (June 10, 2016). In 2023, Hernan-Elias filed an extraordinary motion for new trial, which the trial court denied on March 27, 2023. On June 26, 2023, Hernan-Elias filed a motion for an out-of-time appeal from the March 27 order. The trial court dismissed the motion based on the Supreme Court's holding in Cook v. State, 313 Ga. 471 (870 S.E.2d 758) (2022), and Hernan-Elias appeals. We, however, lack jurisdiction.
In Cook, the Supreme Court determined that a trial court lacks authority to grant an out-of-time appeal. Id. at 506 (5). Hernan-Elias, therefore, "had no right to file a motion for an out-of-time appeal in the trial court; his remedy, if any, lies in habeas corpus." Rutledge v. State, 313 Ga. 460, 461 (870 S.E.2d 720) (2022). Thus, the trial court correctly determined that it did not have jurisdiction to consider Hernan-Elias's motion for an out-of-time appeal, and the court's order dismissing the motion does not present a cognizable basis for an appeal. See Henderson v. State, 303 Ga. 241, 244 (2) (811 S.E.2d 388) (2018). Accordingly, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.