Opinion
A22A0982
06-08-2022
LEE QUINCY HILL, III v. THE STATE.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
In 2019, Lee Quincy Hill III was convicted of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and other offenses. He filed a motion for out-of-time appeal, which the trial court granted in February 2022. Hill then filed this appeal from the conviction and the denial of his motion for new trial.
In a recent case, the Supreme Court determined that a trial court lacks authority to grant an out-of-time appeal. Cook v. State, 313 Ga. 471, 506 (5) (870 S.E.2d 758) (2022). This holding is to be applied to all cases that are currently on direct review or otherwise not yet final. Id. Hill 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). Rather than granting Hill's motion, the trial court should have dismissed it. See id.
Accordingly, the trial court's order granting Hill's motion for out-of-time appeal is hereby VACATED, and this appeal is hereby REMANDED to the trial court. The trial court is DIRECTED to enter an order dismissing the motion for out-of-time appeal and vacating any rulings entered after its order granting the motion for out-of-time appeal that it lacked jurisdiction to decide without the granted out-of-time appeal.