Marcus Moore v. State

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ August 06, 2019

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A19A2441. MARCUS MOORE v. THE STATE.

A jury found Marcus Moore guilty of two counts of malice murder and other crimes.1 Moore subsequently filed a pro se motion for out-of-time appeal, which the trial court dismissed. Moore appealed this ruling, and the appeal was transmitted to this Court.2 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 crime of murder, jurisdiction is proper in the Supreme Court. See OCGA § 16-5-1 (a), (e) (1); Neal v. State, 290 Ga. 563, 572 (722 SE2d 765) (2012) (Hunstein, C. J., concurring). Accordingly, Moore’s appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

1 Rather than proceeding to the penalty phase of the trial, Moore entered a negotiated plea to a life sentence. The Supreme Court addressed the validity of the sentence in Moore v. State, 293 Ga. 705 (749 SE2d 660) (2013). 2 Moore’s notice of appeal purports to direct the appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. But the notice of appeal also provides that “[t]he Court of Appeals of Georgia[] has jurisdiction over this appeal.” We have construed this notice of appeal liberally as we are required to do. See OCGA § 5-6- 30. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 08/06/2019 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.