Marquis Dontez Jordan v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: August 25, 2022
• Docket: A23A0131
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ August 25, 2022

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A23A0131. MARQUIS DONTEZ JORDAN v. THE STATE.

Marquis Dontez Jordan was convicted of criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, three counts of aggravated assault, cruelty to children in the third degree, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. On direct appeal, this Court affirmed in part, vacated in part because one of the counts of aggravated assault should have merged with the count of criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, and remanded for resentencing. Case No. A21A0424 (June 28, 2021). Following a resentencing hearing at which Jordan was represented by counsel, the trial court issued an amended sentence on October 5, 2021, and Jordan filed a pro se notice of appeal on October 18, 2021. We lack jurisdiction. “A criminal defendant in Georgia does not have the right to represent himself and also be represented by an attorney, and pro se filings by represented parties are therefore unauthorized and without effect.” Tolbert v. Toole, 296 Ga. 357, 363 (3) (767 SE2d 24) (2014) (punctuation omitted). Here, the record shows that Jordan was represented by counsel when the trial court entered its amended sentence, and nothing in the record indicates that counsel either withdrew or was relieved from representing Jordan. See White v. State, 302 Ga. 315, 319 (2) (806 SE2d 489) (2017) (rejecting defendant’s argument that representation terminates upon entry of judgment and recognizing that defense counsel’s duties toward a clients extend for at least the 30 days after the entry of judgment when a notice of appeal may be filed). Under these circumstances, Jordan’s pro se notice of appeal is a legal nullity and must be dismissed. See Soberanis v. State, 345 Ga. App. 403, 405 (812 SE2d 800) (2018). Accordingly, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 08/25/2022 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.