Leonard Bonner v. State

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ July 22, 2020

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A20A2025. LEONARD BONNER v. THE STATE.

A jury found Leonard Bonner guilty of felony murder, and the trial court sentenced Bonner to life in prison.1 Bonner filed a motion for new trial, which the

trial court denied. Bonner then filed this appeal. We 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

felony 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”).

1 The jury also found Bonner guilty of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault, but the trial court vacated the involuntary manslaughter conviction and merged the aggravated assault conviction into the felony murder conviction. Accordingly, Bonner’s appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 07/22/2020 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.