Lajuan Guyton v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: December 12, 2014
• Docket: A15A0428
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ December 05, 2014

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A15A0428. LAJUAN GUYTON v. THE STATE.

Lajuan Guyton was convicted of several offenses, including felony murder. He subsequently filed a “Motion to Vacate Void Judgment,” which the trial court denied. Guyton then appealed to this Court. Under our Constitution, however, 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 § 17-10-30 (b); Neal v. State, 290 Ga. 563, 572 (722 SE2d 765) (2012) (Hunstein, C. J., concurring); see also State v. Thornton, 253 Ga. 524 (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”). 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) (appeal from denial of motion attacking murder convictions as void). Accordingly, Guyton’s appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 12/05/2014 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.