Eric Billings v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: March 15, 2017
• Docket: A17A1265
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ March 15, 2017

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A17A1265. ERIC BILLINGS v. THE STATE.

Eric Billings pled guilty to felony murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He filed a motion to correct a void sentence, which the trial court dismissed. He thereafter filed this direct appeal. We, however, lack jurisdiction. Under our Constitution, 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 can 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, Billings’s appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 03/15/2017 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.