Opinion
A22A0951
02-17-2022
RAY A. PAYNE v. THE STATE.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
Ray A. Payne was convicted of murder and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime and was sentenced to life plus five years in prison. The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions. See Payne v. State, 273 Ga. 317 (540 S.E.2d 191) (2001). Between 2019 and 2021, Payne filed three motions to vacate and/or correct void sentence. The trial court denied the motions, and Payne appeals. We, however, lack jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court 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 murder, jurisdiction is proper in the Supreme Court See OCGA § 16-5-1 (a), (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, Payne's appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.