Rodrigo Pinion-Lopez v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: February 4, 2025
• Docket: A25A1068
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ February 04, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25A1068. RODRIGO PINION-LOPEZ v. THE STATE.

In 2023, a jury found Rodrigo Pinion-Lopez guilty of felony murder and other offenses. Pinion-Lopez filed a motion for new trial, which the trial court denied. He then filed a notice of appeal. We, however, lack jurisdiction. 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 penalty of death may be imposed for the crime of felony murder, jurisdiction is proper in the Supreme Court. See OCGA § 16-5-1 (c), (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”), overruled in part on other grounds as recognized in Elliott v. State, 305 Ga. 179, 205 (III) (C) (i) (824 SE2d 265) (2019). Accordingly, this case is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 02/04/2025 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.