Joseph Scott Williams v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: September 9, 2016
• Docket: A17A0185
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ August 31, 2016

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A17A0185. JOSEPH SCOTT WILLIAMS v. THE STATE.

A jury found Joseph Scott Williams guilty of malice murder and felony murder, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. After the trial court denied his motion for a new trial, Williams appealed to this Court. 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 crimes of malice murder and felony murder, jurisdiction is proper in the Supreme Court. See OCGA § 16-5-1 (a), (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, Williams’s appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 08/31/2016 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 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.