Michael Keith Ward v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: May 22, 2025
• Docket: A25A1676
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ May 22, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25A1676. MICHAEL KEITH WARD v. THE STATE.

Michael Keith Ward was convicted of kidnapping with bodily injury and was sentenced to life in prison. The trial court denied his motion for new trial, and this Court affirmed in an unpublished opinion in 2013. Case No. A13A1183 (Oct. 10, 2013). On December 3, 2024, Ward filed a motion to vacate void sentence or judgment. The trial court issued an order denying the motion on December 11, 2024, and Ward filed a notice of appeal on January 30, 2025. We lack jurisdiction because, pretermitting whether a direct appeal is proper,1 this appeal is untimely. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the order to be appealed, OCGA § 5-6-38 (a), and the proper and timely filing of a notice

1 Under OCGA § 17-10-1 (f), a court may modify a sentence during the year after its imposition or within 120 days after remittitur following a direct appeal, whichever is later. Frazier v. State, 302 Ga. App. 346, 348 (691 SE2d 247) (2010). Once, as here, this statutory period expires, a trial court may modify only a void sentence. Id. “A sentence is void if the court imposes punishment that the law does not allow.” Jones v. State, 278 Ga. 669, 670 (604 SE2d 483) (2004) (citation and punctuation omitted). When a sentence falls within the statutory range of punishment, it is neither void nor subject to modification beyond the time provided in OCGA § 17-10-1 (f). See id. A direct appeal does not lie from the denial of a motion to modify a sentence filed outside the statutory time period unless the motion raises a colorable claim that the sentence is, in fact, void. Frazier, 302 Ga. App. at 348. Further, “a petition to vacate or modify a judgment of conviction is not an appropriate remedy in a criminal case,” and an appeal from a trial court’s ruling on such a request is subject to dismissal. Harper v. State, 286 Ga. 216, 218 (1) & (2) (686 SE2d 786) (2009). of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction on this Court. Redford v. State, 357 Ga. App. 247, 250 (850 SE2d 447) (2020). Ward’s notice of appeal was filed 50 days after entry of the trial court’s order and was therefore untimely. Accordingly, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 05/22/2025 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.