Nathaniel Johnson III v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: August 10, 2015
• Docket: A15A2063
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ August 10, 2015

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A15A2063. JOHNSON v. THE STATE.

Appellant Nathaniel Johnson III has filed a motion to remand this appeal to the trial court for a hearing on the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel. It appears that trial counsel filed a notice of appeal on December 10, 2014, but remained as Johnson’s counsel until July 13, 2015, when appellate counsel filed a notice of substitution of counsel in this court. “An attorney cannot reasonably be expected to assert that he was ineffective at trial.” Davitt v. State, 232 Ga. App. 427, 429 (4) (502 SE2d 300) (1998). Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED, that appellant’s motion is hereby GRANTED and this case is REMANDED to the Superior Court of Fulton County so that the trial court may conduct an evidentiary hearing on the alleged ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Johnson shall have 30 days to file a notice of appeal from any order entered by the trial court on remand. Id. The State’s motion to dismiss the appeal is DENIED. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 08/10/2015 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 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.