# C o u rt o f

A p p ea ls

o f t h e S t a te o f

G eo rg ia

ATLANTA,_

_ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _

Th e Co u rt

o f Ap p ea l s h er eb y p a s s es t h e f

o ll owi n g o r der :

A1 8 D0 30 7 . EMBERY J . MCBRI DE v . THE STATE.

Em b ery J

. M cBri d e, wh o i s s erv i n g a l i fe s en t en c e fo r rap e an d ag g rav at ed

s o do m y , fi l ed a “ M o t io n t o Co rrect Vo i d Un co n s t i tu t i o n al Il leg al Ju d gm en t a n d

Co n v i ct io n In co rp o rat ed W i t h Su p rem acy Cl au se.” Th e t ri al co u rt d en i ed th e m o t i o n,

an d McBri d e fi led t h i s ap pl i cat i o n fo r d i s cret i o n ary ap p eal

. 1 W e, h o w ev er, l ack

ju ri s d i ct i o n

.

“ [A] p et i t io n to v acat e o r m o d i fy a j u d gm en t o f co n v i ct i o n i s n o t an ap p ro p ri at e

rem ed y i n a cri m i n al cas e.” Ha r p er v. S t a t e , 2 86 G a. 2 1 6

, 2 1 8 (1 ) (6 8 6 SE2 d 7 8 6 )

(2 0 0 9). An y ap p eal fro m an o rd er d en y in g o r d i sm i s si n g s u ch a m o t i o n m u s t b e

d i s m i s s e d

. S e e i d

. at 2 1 8 (2 ); Ro b er t s v. S t a te

, 2 8 6 G a. 5 3 2

, 5 3 2 (6 9 0 SE2 d 1 5 0 )

(2 0 1 0). A d i rect ap p eal m ay l i e fro m an o rd er d en y i n g a m ot i on t o v acat e o r co rrect

a v oi d s en t e n ce, b u t on l y i f t h e d efen d an t rai s es a co l o rab l e cl ai m th at t h e s en t en ce

i s , i n fact

, v o i d

. See Ha r

p er , su p ra at 21 7 n .1 ; B ur g v. S t at e , 2 9 7 Ga. A p p

. 11 8

, 1 1 9

(6 7 6 SE2 d 4 6 5 ) (2 0 0 9 ). “ M o t i o n s t o v acat e a v o i d s en t en ce g en eral l y are l i m i t ed to

cl ai m s t h at

– ev en as s u m in g t h e ex i s t en ce an d val i di t y o f th e co n v ict i o n fo r wh i ch t h e

s en t en ce was im

p o s ed

– t he l aw d o es n ot au t h o ri ze t h at s en t en ce, m o s t t y p i cal l y

b ecau s e i t ex ceed s t h e m os t s ev ere p u n i s h m en t fo r wh ich t h e ap p l i cab l e pen al s t at u t e

p ro v id es .” vo n Th oma s v. S t a te

, 2 9 3 Ga. 5 6 9, 5 72 (2 ) (7 4 8 SE2 d 4 4 6) (2 0 1 3 ). Th u s , wh en a s en t en ce i s wi t h i n t he s t at u t o ry ran g e o f p u n is h m en t, i t i s n o t vo i d. Jo n es v.

S t a t e , 2 7 8 Ga. 6 69 , 6 7 0 (6 0 4 SE2 d 4 8 3 ) (2 0 0 4 ).

1 M cBri d e fi l ed h i s ap pl i cat i o n i n t h e Su prem e Co u rt

, wh i ch t r a n s f e r red t h e

m at t er t o t h i s Co u rt

. February 26, 2018Acco rd i ng t o t he t ri al co u rt ’ s ord er, M cBri d e ch al l e n g ed th e p ro ced u re

em pl o y ed i n o b t ai n i n g h i s in d i ct m en t

. 2 A ch al l en g e t o an i n d i ct m en t i s a ch al l en g e

t o t h e co n v i ct i o n rat h er t h an t h e s en t en ce. See See Jo nes v. S t a te

, 29 0 Ga. Ap p

. 4 9 0,

4 9 3 (1 ) (6 5 9 SE2 d 8 75 ) (2 0 0 8 )

. Becau s e M cBri d e h as n o t rai s ed a co lo rab l e v o i d

s en t en ce cl ai m , h is ap p l i cat i o n fo r d i s cret i o n ary ap p eal i s h ereb y DISM ISSED. See

Ro b er t s , s u p ra.

C o u r t o f A p p e a l s o f t h e S t a t e o

f G e o r g ia

C le r k ’ s O f f i c e

, A t la n t a

,

_

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I c e r ti fy t h a t t h e a b o v e i s a t r u e e x t r a c t f r o m

t h e m i n u t e s o

f t h e C o u r t o

f A p p e a l s o f G e o r g i a

. W i tn e s s m y s i g n a t u r e a n d th e s e a l o

f s a i d c o u r t

h e r e t o a f f i x e d t h e d a y a n d y e a r l a s t a b o v e w r i t t e n

.

, C l e r k

.

2 In v i o l at i on of t h i s Co u rt ’ s ru l es , M cBri d e fai l ed t o in cl u d e a co p y o f t h e

m o ti o n wi t h h i s ap pl icat i o n fo r d i s cret i o n ary ap p eal . See Co u rt o f Ap p eal s Ru l e 3 1 (e). 02/26/2018