Frank Don Causey v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: March 21, 2019
• Docket: A19A1529
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ March 12, 2019

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A19A1529. FRANK DON CAUSEY v. THE STATE.

In 2017, a jury found Frank Don Causey guilty of malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault.1 He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Causey filed a timely motion for new trial, which the trial court denied. He then filed the instant direct appeal. 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 malice murder, jurisdiction is proper in the Supreme Court. See OCGA § 16-5-1 (b), (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”).

1 The trial court later vacated Causey’s conviction for felony murder by operation of law, and merged his conviction for aggravated assault into his malice murder conviction. Accordingly, Causey’s appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 03/12/2019 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.