Jared Kemp v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: May 22, 2026
• Docket: A26A1992
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ May 22, 2026

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A26A1992. JARED KEMP v. THE STATE.

Jared Kemp was convicted of murder, two counts of felony murder, and other offenses. He filed a motion for new trial, which the trial court denied. He then filed a direct appeal to this Court. The State has filed a motion to transfer the appeal to the Supreme Court of Georgia. The Supreme Court of Georgia 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 crimes of murder and felony murder, jurisdiction over this appeal lies in the Supreme Court. See OCGA § 16-5-1 (a), (c), (e) (1); see also Hart v. State, 322 Ga. 1, 10(1) (917 SE2d 631) (2025) (even in murder cases in which the death penalty was not sought, the Supreme Court has opted to exercise its jurisdiction to review all such cases). The Supreme Court’s jurisdiction over murder cases includes appeals from orders resolving post-judgment motions in such cases. See Simpson v. State, 292 Ga. 764 (740 SE2d 124) (2013) (considering an appeal from the denial of a motion in arrest of judgment attacking murder convictions as void). Accordingly, the motion to transfer is hereby GRANTED, and this appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 05/22/2026 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.