Arthur Shermaine Bussey v. State

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ September 28, 2018

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A19A0317. ARTHUR SHERMAINE BUSSEY v. THE STATE.

In August 2005, Arthur Bussey entered an Alford1 plea to statutory rape, and the trial court imposed a sentence of six years in prison. The record contains no indication that Bussey filed a direct appeal from his judgment of conviction. In May 2017, Bussey filed a “Motion to Challenge Jurisdiction,” contending that his conviction is void because his arrest warrant was invalid due to an inadequate affidavit, which, he claimed, deprived the trial court of personal jurisdiction over him. In June 2018, he filed a “Motion to Challenge Constitutionality of Arrest Affidavit and Issuance of Arrest Warrant” in which he raised identical claims. The trial court denied both motions in a single order, and Bussey filed this direct appeal. A post-conviction motion seeking to vacate an allegedly void conviction is not a valid procedure in a criminal case, and any appeal from the denial or dismissal of such a motion must be dismissed. Williams v. State, 287 Ga. 192, 192, 194 (695 SE2d 244) (2010); Roberts v. State, 286 Ga. 532, 532 (690 SE2d 150) (2010). Consequently, Bussey’s appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 09/28/2018 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.

1 North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U. S. 25 (91 SCt 160, 27 LE2d 162) (1970).