Constancio Vasquez v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: July 26, 2019
• Docket: A19A2288
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ July 26, 2019

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A19A2288. CONSTANCIO VASQUEZ v. THE STATE.

Constancio Vasquez appeals from the trial court’s order refusing to rule on his pro se motion to correct void sentence. The trial court refused to rule on Vasquez’s pro se motion because he was represented by counsel when he filed it. Vasquez then filed a pro se notice of appeal. The trial court’s record reveals that Vasquez was still represented by counsel when he filed his notice of appeal. Vasquez, therefore, may not attempt to represent himself, and his pro se notice of appeal is a nullity. See Tolbert v. Toole, 296 Ga. 357, 363 (3) (767 SE2d 24) (2014) (“A criminal defendant in Georgia does not have the right to represent himself and also be represented by an attorney, and pro se filings by represented parties are therefore ‘unauthorized and without effect.’”); Jacobsen v. Haldi, 210 Ga. App. 817, 818-819 (1) (437 SE2d 819) (1993). Consequently, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 07/26/2019 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.