Carlos Anthony Pachajoa v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: March 3, 2025
• Docket: A25D0246
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ March 03, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25D0246. CARLOS ANTHONY PACHAJOA v. THE STATE.

In this aggravated assault case, Carlos Anthony Pachajoa, while represented by counsel, filed a pro se motion to dismiss the indictment. The trial court denied the motion on December 9, 2024, finding that, under Johnson v. State, 315 Ga. 876 (885 SE2d 725) (2023), he did not have the right to both represent himself and be represented by an attorney. The next day, Pachajoa entered an Alford plea to the aggravated assault charge and the trial court sentenced him to a total of ten years, with the first three months in confinement.1 On December 26, 2024, Pachajoa filed this pro se application for discretionary appeal in the Supreme Court of Georgia, seeking to challenge his judgment of conviction and sentence. Finding no basis for exercising its jurisdiction, the Supreme Court transferred the application to this Court. See Case No. S25D0563 (Jan. 23, 2025). Pachajoa’s conviction is a directly appealable judgment. See Collier v. State, 307 Ga. 363, 368 (1) (834 SE2d 769) (2019) (a defendant who enters a guilty plea has a right to appeal the judgment entered on that plea). And ordinarily, when a party has a right of direct appeal and files a timely application for discretionary appeal, we will grant the application. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (j). Accordingly, this application is hereby

1 North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U. S. 25 (91 SCt 160, 27 LE2d 162) (1970). GRANTED, and Pachajoa shall have ten days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal in the trial court. If he has already filed a timely notice of appeal in the trial court, he need not file a second notice. The clerk of the trial court is DIRECTED to include a copy of this order in the record transmitted to the Court of Appeals.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 03/03/2025 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.