Opinion
A23A1054
03-30-2023
DERRICK LEE v. THE STATE.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
In 1999, Derrick Lee was convicted of malice murder, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Lee filed a motion for new trial, which the trial court denied. The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed his conviction. See Lee v. State, 274 Ga. 707 (559 S.E.2d 475) (2002). Lee later filed an “extraordinary motion for new trial,” which the trial court denied. Lee appealed to this Court. Lee has filed a motion to transfer to the Supreme Court.
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 the crime of murder, jurisdiction is proper in the Supreme Court. See OCGA § 16-5-1 (e) (1); Neal v. State, 290 Ga. 563, 572 (722 S.E.2d 765) (2012) (Hunstein, C. J., concurring); see also State v. Thornton, 253 Ga. 524, 524 (1) (322 S.E.2d 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 in part on other grounds as recognized in Elliott v. State, 305 Ga. 179, 205 (III) (C) (i) (824 S.E.2d 265) (2019). The Supreme Court's jurisdiction over murder cases includes appeals from orders resolving post-judgment motions in such cases. See Simpson v. State, 292 Ga. 764 (740 S.E.2d 124) (2013) (appeal from denial of a motion in arrest of judgment attacking murder convictions as void).
Accordingly, Lee's motion to transfer is GRANTED and this appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.