Frederick Khalees v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: October 18, 2021
• Docket: A21A1690
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ October 18, 2021

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A21A1690. FREDERICK KHALEES v. THE STATE.

Frederick Khalees was convicted of murder and related crimes in 2003 and was sentenced to life plus forty years. See Khalees v. State, 279 Ga. 301 (612 SE2d 799) (2005). The trial court later entered an order correcting Khalees’s sentence, and he appeals directly to this Court. We, however, lack jurisdiction. 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 (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 to the Supreme Court “all cases in which either a sentence of death or of life imprisonment has been imposed upon conviction of murder”). Accordingly, this appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 10/18/2021 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.