Willie G. Goodroe v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: February 13, 2013
• Docket: A13A0984
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,__________________ February 13, 2013

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A13A0984. WILLIE G. GOODROE v. THE STATE.

Willie Goodroe was convicted of three counts of rape and one count of aggravated assault, and his convictions were affirmed on appeal. See Goodroe v. State, 238 Ga. App. 66 (518 SE2d 139) (1999). In November 2010, Goodroe moved to vacate his sentence in a motion he entitled “Nunc Pro Tunc Order with Supporting Brief,” in which he argued that the trial court should have merged the rape counts. The trial court denied the motion, and Goodroe filed this appeal.

A direct appeal may lie from an order denying or dismissing a motion to correct a void sentence if the defendant raises a colorable claim that the sentence is, in fact, void or illegal. See Harper v. State, 286 Ga. 216 n.1 (686 SE2d 786) (2009); Burg v. State, 297 Ga. App. 118, 119 (676 SE2d 465) (2009). But a claim that a trial court erred in failing to merge convictions is a challenge to the convictions, not to the sentence. Williams v. State, 287 Ga. 192 (695 SE2d 244) (2010). Thus, any appeal from an order denying or dismissing such a challenge to the convictions is subject to dismissal. See id.; Harper v. State, supra. Because Goodroe has not raised a colorable claim that his sentence is void, his appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 02/13/2013 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,__________________ 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.