Marcus Seymore v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: December 30, 2025
• Docket: A26A0876
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ December 30, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A26A0876. MARCUS SEYMORE v. THE STATE.

In 2011, Marcus Seymore pled guilty to felony murder and other crimes; the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment without parole.1 In 2025, Seymore filed a motion to vacate a void sentence, which the trial court denied. Seymore then appealed to this Court. We, however, 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(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”), overruled in part on other grounds as recognized in Elliott v. State, 305 Ga. 179, 205 (III)(C)(i) (824 SE2d 265) (2019). 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 a motion in arrest of judgment attacking murder convictions as void).

1 In 2020, the trial court amended Seymore’s sentence to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. Accordingly, we hereby TRANSFER this appeal to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 12/30/2025 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.