# 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 :

A2 4 A1 74 7 . KEVI N BROOKS v

. THE STATE.

I n 201 3, a j ury fo u nd K ev in B ro o k s gu ilty o f tw o c o u nts o f f a lse imp riso nment and o ne c o u nt eac h o f armed r o bbery, b u rglary, aggrav ated assau lt, and p o s sessio n o f

c o c aine. T he trial c o u rt imp o sed a 20- year sentenc e fo r the armed ro bbery c o nv ic tio n,

a c o nsec u tiv e 1 0- y ear sentenc e f o r the bu rglary c o nv ic tio n, and c o nc u rrent sentenc es f o r the remaining c o nv ic tio ns. We a ffirmed B ro o k s’ s j u d gment o f c o nv ic tio n o n d irec t
ap p eal in 201 5

. Bro o ks v. S ta te , 332 Ga. A p p

. 39 6 (7 7 2 SE2d 838) (201 5).
I n A p r il 2024, B ro o k s f

iled a mo tio n to c orrec t a v o id s entenc e, w hic h the trial

c o u rt d enied

. B ro ok s then f iled this d irec t ap p eal. W e lac k j u risd ic tio n. Und er OCGA § 1 7

- 1 0- 1 (f ), a c o u r t may mo d if

y a s entenc e d u ring the year af ter its imp o s itio n o r w ithin 1 20 d a ys af ter r emittitu r f

o llo w ing a d irec t ap p e al, w hic hev er is later. Fra z i

er v

. S ta t e , 302 Ga. A p p

. 346 , 348 (6 9 1 SE2d 247 ) (201 0). Onc e , as here, that statu to ry p e rio d exp ires, a trial c o urt may mo d i f y o nly a v o id sentenc e. I d

. “ A

sentenc e is v o id if the c o urt imp o ses p u nishment that the law do es no t allo w

. ” Jo nes

v

. Sta te , 27 8 Ga. 66 9 , 6 70 ( 6 04 SE2d 483) (2004) (c itatio n and p u nc tu atio n o mitted ).
W hen a sentenc e f

alls within the statu to ry range o f p unishment, it is no t v oid and is

no t su bj ec t to mo d if

ic atio n beyo nd the time pro vid ed in OCGA § 17

- 1 0- 1 (f ). See id

. ;

see also v o n Tho ma s v

. S ta te , 29 3 Ga. 56 9 , 57 2 (2) (7 48 SE2d 446 ) (201 3) (“ M o tio ns
to v ac ate a v o id sentenc e generall y ar e l i m i te d to c laims that — ev en assu ming the existenc e and v alid ity o f the co nv ic tio n f o r w hic h the sentenc e w as imp o s ed — the law d o e s no t au tho riz e that sentenc e, mo st typ ic ally bec au se it e xc eed s the mo st se v e r e
p u nishmen t f

o r w hic h the ap p lic able p enal s tatu te p ro vid es. ” ). A nd a d irec t ap p eal July 19, 2024d o es no t lie f ro m a trial c o u rt o rd er rej e c ting a re qu est to mo d if y a sentenc e f

iled

o u tsid e the statu t o ry time perio d u nless the def end ant r aises a c o lo rable c laim that the

sentenc e is, in f

ac t, v o id

. See Fra z i

er , 302 Ga. A pp

. at 348. I n his mo tio n to c o rrec t a v o id sentenc e, B ro o k s argu ed that the t r ial c o u rt erred

w hen it imp o sed c o nsec u tiv e s en t e nc es f o r his a rmed ro bbery and bu rglary

c o nv ic tio ns, bec au se, he c laimed , o ne c rime w as inc lu d ed in the o ther and the c o urt theref o r e sho u ld hav e merged the t w o o f f e nses. See, e. g. , Bo nn er v. S ta te , 308 Ga.
A p p

. 827 , 830 ( 2) (7 09 SE2d 358) (201 1 ) (“ T he k ey qu estio n in d etermining w hether

a merger has o c c urred is w hether the dif f e r ent o f f e nses a r e p r o v e n w ith the same f ac ts. ” ) (c itatio n a nd p u nc tu a tio n o m itted ). B ro o ks’ s merger c laim is a c hallenge to his co nv ic tio ns, no t his sentenc es, and thu s do es no t state a v alid v o id

- sentenc e c laim.
See W i lli ams v

. S ta te , 287 G a. 1 92, 1 93- 1 9 4 (6 9 5 SE2d 244) (201 0). To the extent that
B r oo k s’ s mo tio n c o u ld be c o nstru ed a s seek ing t o v a c ate o r mo d if y h i s co nv ic tio ns,

“ a petitio n to v ac ate or mo d if y a j u d gment o f c o nv ic tio n is no t an ap p r o p riate remed y in a c riminal c ase,” Ha rper v

. S ta te , 286 Ga. 21 6 , 21 8 (1 ) (6 86 SE2d 7 86 ) (2009 ), and

any ap p eal fro m an o rd er d enying o r d ismissing su c h a mo tio n m u st be d ismissed , see id

. at 21 8 (2); see also Ro b erts v

. S ta te , 286 Ga. 532, 532 (6 9 0 SE2d 1 50) (201 0).
Fo r these reaso ns, t his ap p eal is hereby D I SM I SSED f or lac k o f j urisd ic tio n. See Fra z i er , 302 Ga. A pp

. at 348- 349 ; see also Ro berts , 286 Ga. at 532.

C o u r t o f A p p e a ls o f t h e S t a t e o f G e o r g ia C le r k ’ s O ffic e , A t la n t a ,

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I c e r t ify t h a t t h e a b o v e is a t

r u e e x t r a c t fr o m
t h e m in u t e s o f t h e C o u r t o f A pp e a ls o f G e o r g ia

. W it n e s s m y s ig n a t u r e a n d t h e s e a l o f s a id c o u r t h e r e t o a ffix e d t h e d a y a n d y e a r la s t a b o v e w r

it t e n

.

, C le r

k

. 07/19/2024