Nicolas Lopez v. State

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ September 09, 2019

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A20D0057. NICOLAS LOPEZ v. THE STATE.

Following a jury trial where he was represented by counsel, Nicolas Lopez was convicted of malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. On December 6, 2018, the trial court entered the judgment of conviction, sentencing Lopez to life imprisonment without parole on the murder count. On August 22, 2019, Lopez filed the instant pro se application for discretionary review of the judgment.

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 sentence of death may be imposed for the crime of malice murder, jurisdiction over this application appears to be 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); see also State v. Thornton, 253 Ga. 524, 524 (1) (322 SE2d 711) (1984) (directing this Court to transfer “all cases in which either a sentence of death or of life imprisonment has been imposed upon conviction of murder”); accord Saxton v. Coastal Dialysis & Med. Clinic, Inc., 267 Ga. 177, 178 (476 SE2d 587) (1996) (the Supreme Court has the ultimate responsibility for determining appellate jurisdiction).

Accordingly, this application is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 09/09/2019

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.