Opinion
A22A0565
11-18-2021
AMY ELLIS KAVE v. THE STATE.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
A jury convicted Amy Ellis Kave of three counts: driving under the influence of alcohol ("DUI") per se, DUI less safe, and failure to maintain lane. The trial court thereafter sentenced Kave on the first and third counts, but failed to enter any disposition as to Count 2, DUI less safe. Kave then filed a notice of appeal to this Court. We lack jurisdiction because the appeal is premature.
Under OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1), appeals generally may be taken from "[a]ll final judgments, that is to say, where the case is no longer pending in the court below." The Georgia Supreme Court has explained that "when multiple counts of an indictment are tried together and the trial court does not enter a written sentence on one or more of the counts, the case is still pending in the trial court and is not a final judgment under OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1)." Keller v. State, 275 Ga. 680, 680 (571 S.E.2d 806) (2002). Because the trial court failed to enter a written sentence on Count 2, the case remains pending below and we lack jurisdiction over this premature appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED. 1