Unta Duran Mattox v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: October 9, 2024
• Docket: A25D0065
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ October 09, 2024

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25D0065. UNTA DURAN MATTOX v. THE STATE.

Unta Mattox pled guilty to aggravated assault and other offenses in April 2022, and the trial court later amended his sentence in February 2023. On August 13, 2024, Mattox filed a “motion for void sentence/involuntary plea/failure to arraign,” arguing that the court never arraigned him and thus his convictions should be vacated. The trial court dismissed the motion that same day. Mattox then filed this discretionary application from that order.1 We, however, lack jurisdiction. Regardless of nomenclature, Mattox’s underlying motion seeks to challenge the validity of his convictions. See Roberts v. State, 286 Ga. 532, 532 (690 SE2d 150) (2010). A motion seeking to challenge an allegedly invalid or void judgment of conviction “is not one of the established procedures for challenging the validity of a judgment in a criminal case,” and an appeal from the denial of such a motion is subject to dismissal. Id.

1 Mattox has also filed a direct appeal from the same order. See Case No. A25A0432. Accordingly, because Mattox is not authorized to challenge his convictions in this manner, this application is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 10/09/2024 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.