Sonya Fuller v. State

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ July 26, 2024

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A24A1831. SONYA FULLER v. THE STATE.

Sonya Fuller was sentenced to life without parole plus five years after she was convicted of felony murder and other crimes. The trial court denied her motion for new trial, and Fuller appeals. The State has moved to transfer this appeal to the Supreme Court of Georgia, contending that jurisdiction lies in that Court. We agree. 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 felony murder, jurisdiction lies in the Supreme Court. See OCGA § 16-5-1 (e); Neal v. State, 290 Ga. 563, 572 (722 SE2d 765) (2012) (Hunstein, C. J., concurring); State v. Thornton, 253 Ga. 524, 524 (1) (322 SE2d 711) (1984) (directing this Court to transfer to the Supreme Court “all cases in which either a sentence of death or of life imprisonment has been imposed upon conviction of murder”), overruled on other grounds as recognized in Elliott v. State, 305 Ga. 179, 205 (III) (C) (i) (824 SE2d 265) (2019). Thus, the motion to transfer is GRANTED and this appeal is TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 07/26/2024

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.