Brandon Alexander Terry-Hall v. State

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ February 22, 2021

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A21A1025. BRANDON ALEXANDER TERRY-HALL v. THE STATE.

Brandon Alexander Terry-Hall pled guilty to felony murder, and the trial court sentenced him to life in prison. Terry-Hall subsequently filed a pro se motion for out- of-time appeal, which the trial court denied. Terry-Hall 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 felony murder, jurisdiction is proper in the Supreme Court. See OCGA § 16-5-1 (c), (e) (1); Neal v. State, 290 Ga. 563, 572 (722 SE2d 765) (2012) (Hunstein, C. J., concurring); see also State v. Thornton, 253 Ga. 524, 524 (1) (322 SE2d 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”). Accordingly, this appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 02/22/2021 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.