Keyarn Filer v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: March 25, 2024
• Docket: A24D0292
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ March 25, 2024

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A24D0292. KEYARN FILER v. THE STATE.

In 2014, Keyarn Filer pleaded guilty to malice murder and arson in the first degree, and was sentenced to life in prison. He has now filed a “Claim of Error Sua Sponte for Violation of Mandate Rule” in this Court, which was docketed as an application for discretionary 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.” See Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Par. III (8). Because a penalty of death can be imposed for the crime of murder, jurisdiction is proper in the Supreme Court. See OCGA § 16-5-1 (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”), overruled in part on other grounds as recognized in Elliott v. State, 305 Ga. 179, 205 (III) (C) (i) (824 SE2d 265) (2019). Accordingly, Filer’s application is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 03/25/2024 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.