# 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 9 D0 46 5 . MARK W RI GHT v . THE STATE.

Fo l l owi n g a ju r y t ri al

, M ark W ri gh t was co n v i ct ed of m al i ce m urd er, fel o ny

m u rd er, an d ag g rav at ed as s au l t

. Th e t ri al co u rt s en t en ced W ri gh t t o l ife i n p ri s o n fo r

m al i ce m u rd er an d m erg ed t he rem ai n in g co u n t s of t he i nd i ct m en t wi t h t h e m al i ce

m u rd er co u n t

. Th e Su p rem e Co u rt o f Geo rg i a affi rm ed h i s co n v i ct i o n s fo l l o wi n g t h e

t ri al co urt ’ s d en i al o f h i s m o t io n fo r n ew tri al

. See W r i g h t v. S t a t e , 2 7 5 G a. 4 2 7 (5 6 9

SE2 d 5 37 ) (2 0 0 2 ), o v erru l ed i n p art b y W i l s o n v. S t a t e , 2 7 7 Ga. 1 9 5 (5 8 6 SE2 d 6 6 9 )

(2 0 0 3). 1 In M arch 2 0 1 8

, W ri g h t fi l ed a m o t i o n fo r an ou t -o f-t i m e ap peal

, s eek i n g an

o p p o rt u ni t y t o rai s e i n effect iv en es s -o f-co u n s el cl a im s. Th e t ri al co u rt d en i ed t h e

m o ti o n , an d t h i s ap p li cat i o n fo r d i s cret i o nary ap p eal fo l lo wed

. Un d er o u r Co ns t it u t i o n , t h e Su p rem e Co u rt h a s a p p el l at e ju ri s d ict i o n o v er

“ [a] l l cas es i n wh i c h a s e n t en ce o f deat h was im p o s ed o r co u l d b e i m

p o s ed .” Ga.

C o n s t

. o f 19 8 3

, Art

. VI, Sec. V I, Par. III (8 ). Becau s e a p en al ty o f d eat h m ay b e

i m p o s ed fo r t h e cri m e o f m al i ce m u rd er, ju ri s d i ct i o n o v er t h i s ap p l i cat i o n ap p ears to

b e p ro p er i n t h e Su p rem e Co urt . See OCGA § 1 6 -5 -1 (a), (e) (1 ); Nea l v. S ta t e , 2 9 0

Ga. 5 6 3 , 5 7 2 (7 2 2 SE2 d 7 6 5 ) (2 0 1 2 ) (Hu n s t ei n , C. J

., co n cu rri n g ); s ee al s o S t a t e v.

Th o r nt o n , 2 53 Ga. 5 2 4

, 5 2 4 ( 1 ) ( 3 2 2 SE2 d 7 1 1) (1 9 8 4 ) (d i rect i n g t h i s Co u rt to

t ran s fer “ al l cas es i n wh i ch ei th er a s en t en ce of d eat h o r o f l i fe i m pri s o n m en t h as b een

1 In W i l s o n , t h e Su p rem e Co u rt cl ari fi ed th at fai l u re t o req u es t an ev i d en ti ary h eari n g i n s u p p o rt o f a cl ai m of i n effect i v en es s o f tri al co un s el rai s ed in a m o t i o n fo r

n ew t ri al res u l t s on l y i n a wai v er o f t h e ri g h t t o s u ch a h eari n g, bu t n o t i n a wai v er o f

ap p el l at e co ns i d erat i on o f t he cl ai m . 2 7 7 Ga. at 1 9 8 -1 9 9 (2 ). May 16, 2019i m

p o s ed u p o n co n v i ct i o n o f m u rd er”); acco rd S

a xt o n v. Co a s t a l D i al

ys i s & Med

. Cl i n i c, In c. , 2 67 Ga. 1 7 7, 1 7 8 (4 7 6 SE2 d 5 8 7 ) (1 9 9 6 ) (t h e Su prem e C o u r t h as t h e

u l t i m at e res ponsibility f

or de te r m ining a p p el l at e ju ri s d ict i o n ). A cco rd i ng l y , W ri g h t ’ s

ap p li cat io n i s h ereb y

TRANSFERRED t o t h e Su p rem e Co u rt fo r d i s p os i t i o n

.

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 is a tr 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 t h 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

. 05/16/2019