Eugenia Schell v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: May 22, 2020
• Docket: A20A1796
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ May 11, 2020

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A20A1796. EUGENIA SCHELL v. THE STATE.

In 2016, Eugenia Schell was convicted of malice murder and other crimes. She appeals from the trial court’s denial of her motion for new trial. We 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 may be imposed for the crime of murder, jurisdiction is proper in the Supreme Court. See OCGA § 16-5-1 (a), (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”); Saxton v. Coastal Dialysis & Med. Clinic, Inc., 267 Ga. 177, 178 (476 SE2d 587) (1996) (noting that the Supreme Court has the ultimate responsibility for determining appellate jurisdiction). Accordingly, this appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 05/11/2020 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.