David Nealy Jr v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: December 25, 2014
• Docket: A15A0497
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ December 08, 2014

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A15A0497. DAVID NEALY, JR. v. THE STATE.

David Nealy, Jr., was convicted of several offenses, including aggravated child molestation and statutory rape. We affirmed his convictions in an unpublished opinion. Nealy v. The State, Case No. A03A2116 (decided Sept. 18, 2003). Nealy subsequently moved to vacate his judgment and sentence, arguing that the charges should have merged. The trial court denied the motion, and Nealy appeals. An appeal may lie from an order denying a motion to correct a void sentence if the defendant raises a colorable claim that the sentence is, in fact, void or illegal. See Harper v. State, 286 Ga. 216 n.1 (686 SE2d 786) (2009); Burg v. State, 297 Ga. App. 118, 119 (676 SE2d 465) (2009). Nealy’s merger argument, however, is a challenge to his convictions, not to his sentence. See Williams v. State, 287 Ga. 192 (695 SE2d 244) (2010). Because Nealy has not raised a valid void-sentence claim, we lack jurisdiction to consider his appeal. See Roberts v. State, 286 Ga. 532 (690 SE2d 150) (2010); Harper, supra. Accordingly, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 12/08/2014 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 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.