Shaqwuan Haley v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: February 5, 2025
• Docket: A25D0222
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ February 05, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25D0222. SHAQWUAN HALEY v. THE STATE.

In 2013, Shaqwuan Haley entered a negotiated plea under Georgia’s First Offender Act, OCGA § 42-8-60 et seq. The trial court sentenced Haley as a first offender to twenty years, with the first ten years in confinement and the balance to be served on probation. Ten years later, the State filed a “Petition for Adjudication of Guilt and Imposition of Sentence in First Offender Case,” which alleged that Haley had violated the conditions of his probation. Following a hearing in December 2024, the trial court revoked Haley’s first-offender status, entered an adjudication of guilt, and resentenced Haley as a felon to 20 years, to be served in confinement.1 Haley filed a timely application for discretionary appeal and the State has filed a motion to dismiss. Ordinarily, appeals from probation revocation orders must be made by application for discretionary appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (5). However, the Supreme Court of Georgia has recently held “that the entry of an adjudication of guilt and revocation of a defendant’s first-offender status is directly appealable.” Howard v. State, 319 Ga. 114, 114 (902 SE2d 551) (2024). Because Haley seeks to challenge the trial court’s entry of an adjudication of guilt and revocation of his first-offender status, the order may be appealed directly. See id.

1 As part of the same proceeding, the trial court revoked Haley’s probation in two other cases as well. We will grant a timely application for discretionary appeal if the lower court’s order is subject to direct appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (j). Accordingly, this application is hereby GRANTED. Haley shall have ten days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal with the trial court. If he has already filed a notice of appeal in the trial court, he need not file a second notice. The clerk of the superior court is DIRECTED to include a copy of this order in the appeal record transmitted to this Court. The State’s motion to dismiss is hereby DENIED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 02/05/2025 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.