State v. Marquez Wilson

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: March 17, 2023
• Docket: A23I0165
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ March 17, 2023

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A23I0165. THE STATE v. MARQUEZ WILSON.

The Georgia Public Defender Council (GPDC) filed this application for interlocutory appeal, seeking review of the trial court’s order directing it to provide ancillary defense services to indigent defendant Marquez Wilson. We, however, lack jurisdiction. It is well established that 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). This jurisdiction includes all murder cases, regardless of whether the State is seeking the death penalty or life imprisonment. See 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 to the Supreme Court “all pre-conviction appeals in murder cases”), overruled in part on other grounds as recognized in Elliott v. State, 305 Ga. 179, 205 (III) (C) (i) (824 SE2d 265) (2019). See also WALB-TV v. Gibson, 269 Ga. 564, n. 2 (501 SE2d 821) (1998) (where an appeal is taken from an order “entered in the context of a murder prosecution,” jurisdiction of the appeal lies in the Supreme Court). In its application, GPDC indicated that jurisdiction was proper in this Court, but GPDC failed to clarify the offense with which Wilson has been charged. Because it is incumbent upon this Court to inquire into its own jurisdiction, Williams v. State, 287 Ga. 192, 192 (695 SE2d 244) (2010), we contacted the lower court clerk to determine the nature of the charges. The lower court clerk forwarded Wilson’s indictment, which shows that Wilson is charged with four counts of felony murder. Under these circumstances, jurisdiction lies in the Supreme Court. Langlands v. State, 280 Ga. 799, 799 (1) (633 SE2d 537) (2006). Accordingly, this application is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 03/17/2023 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.