Rodney Peterson v. State

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,__________________ January 23, 2013

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A13D0183. RODNEY PETERSON v. THE STATE.

In 2007, Rodney Peterson pled guilty to aggravated assault, obstruction of an officer, and other crimes. He later filed a motion to correct a void sentence, arguing that his aggravated assault and obstruction convictions should have merged.1 The trial court denied the motion, and Peterson filed this application for discretionary appeal. An appeal may lie from an order denying a motion to correct a void sentence if the defendant raises a colorable claim that the sentence is, in fact, void or illegal. See Harper v. State, 286 Ga. 216 n.1 (686 SE2d 786) (2009); Burg v. State, 297 Ga. App. 118, 119 (676 SE2d 465) (2009). Peterson’s merger argument, however, is a challenge to his convictions, not to his sentence. See Williams v. State, 287 Ga. 192 (695 SE2d 244) (2010). Because he has not raised a valid void-sentence claim, we may not consider Peterson’s application. See Roberts v. State, 286 Ga. 532 (690 SE2d 150) (2010); Harper, supra. Accordingly, this application is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 01/23/2013 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.

1 As Peterson has not included a copy of his motion, this summary of his argument is taken from the trial court’s order.