# C o urt o f A ppe a ls

o f th e S ta te o f G e o rg ia

A TLA N TA ,_

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The C o u rt o f Appea ls h ereb

y p a s s es the fo llo wi

n g order:

A 24A 06 45. RI CO W A LK ER v

. TH E STA TE.

I n 201 6 , Ric o W alk er p led gu ilty to inc e st and the trial c ou rt sentenc ed him to

30 y ears, w ith the f

irst 1 5 to be serv ed in p riso n and the remaind er o n p r o b a t i o n. I n J anu ary 2023, W alk er f

iled a mo tio n to v ac ate his s entenc e, argu ing that it exc eed ed
that a llo w ed u nd er OCGA § 1 7

- 1 0- 6

. 2 (b). 1 The trial c o u r t d enied the m o t io n, and

W alk er ap p eals. W e lac k j u risd ic tio n. Und er OCGA § 1 7- 1 0

- 1 (f ), a trial c ou rt may mo d if

y a sentenc e d u ring the year af ter its imp o sitio n o r w ithin 1 20 d a y s af ter remittitu r f

o ll ow ing a d irec t ap p e al,

w hic hev er is later. Fra z i

er v. S ta te , 302 Ga. A p p

. 346 , 347

- 348 ( 6 9 1 SE2d 247 ) (201 0);
Bu rg v

. S ta te , 29 7 Ga. A p p

. 1 1 8, 1 1 8 (6 7 6 SE2d 46 5) (2009 ). Onc e t his statu to ry p erio d

exp ires, as it had here w hen Wa l k er f iled his mo tio n, a trial c ou rt m ay mo d if y a

sentenc e o nly if it is v o id

. Jo n e s v

. S ta te , 27 8 Ga. 6 6 9 , 6 7 0 ( 604 SE2d 483) (2004). A nd

a sentenc e is v oid only when the trial c o u rt imp o ses p u nishment that the law d o es no t allo w

. I d

. “ M o tio ns to v ac ate a v o id sentenc e generally are limited to c laims that —

ev en assu ming the existenc e and v alid ity o f the c o nv ic tio n fo r w hic h the sentenc e w as imp o sed — the law d o es no t au tho riz e that sentenc e, mo st t yp ic ally b ec a u se it exc eed s the mo st s ev ere p u nishment f o r w hic h the ap p lic able p enal statu t e p ro v id es. ” v o n Tho ma s v. S ta te , 29 3 Ga. 56 9 , 57 2 (2) (7 48 SE2d 446 ) (201 3). A d irec t ap p eal d o es no t

1 In a p rev i o u s ap p earan ce b efo re t hi s Co u rt , W al ker ap p eal ed th e d en i al o f h i s

m o ti o n fo r an o u t -o f-t i m e ap p eal

. Th i s Co u rt v acat ed t h e t r i a l c o u rt ’ s ord er an d

rem an ded t h e cas e wi t h d i rect i o n s t o t h e t ri al co u rt t o en t er an o rd er d i s m i s s i n g t h e

m o ti o n

. See Cas e No . A2 2A1 2 0 5 (Ap r. 1 3 , 2 0 2 2 ). December 29, 2023lie fro m the d enial of a mo tio n to v a c a t e a v o i d sentenc e f iled o u tsid e the s tatu t o ry time p e rio d u nless the mo tio n raises a c o lo r able c l a i m t h a t the sentenc e is, in f ac t,

v o id

. Fra z i

er , 302 Ga. A p p

. at 348.
H ere, W alk er has f

a iled to raise a c o lo rable c laim that his sentenc e is v o id

. A s the trial c o u rt c o rrec t ly no ted , OCGA § 1 6 -6

- 22 ( b ) p ro v id es: “ [a] p erso n c onv ic ted

o f the o f f ense o f inc est shall b e p u nished b y i m p r i s o n m e nt f o r no t less than ten no r

mo re than 30 years; p r o v id ed , ho w e v e r , t h a t any p erso n co nv ic t ed o f the o f f ense o f
inc est und er t his su bsec t io n with a c hild u nd er the age o f 1 4 years shall be p u nished by imp riso nment f

o r no t less than 25 no r mo re than 50 years. ” Fu rthermo r e, W alk er’ s

c laim that OCGA § 1 7

- 1 0- 6

. 2 ( b) c reates a maximu m s entenc e o f ten years lac k s merit.

A c c o rd ingly, W alk er’ s sentenc e o f 30 years, to serv e 1 5, is no t v o id

. Fo r these reaso ns, W alk e r has f ailed to raise a c o l orable v o id -sentenc e c laim,
and this ap p eal is hereby D ISM I SSED f o r lac k o f j u risd ic tio 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 fi c e , A t la n t a ,

_

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I c e r t if y 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 t n e s s m y s i g n a tu 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 le r k

. 12/29/2023