# 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 6 A0 41 3 . CLYDE J . THOMPSON v . THE STATE.

Cl y d e J

. Th o m

p so n was co nv i ct ed o f ch i l d m o l es t a t i o n an d ag g rav at ed ch i ld

m o les t at i o n

, an d we affi rm ed h i s co n vi ct i on s i n an u n p u b li sh ed o pi n io n

. Th o mp so n

v. S t a te

, Cas e No

. A9 7 A0 7 3 7 (d eci d ed J u n e 2 5

, 1 9 9 7 ). Th o m p s o n s u bs eq u en t l y fi l ed

a M o t i o n Ag ai n s t V o id In d i ct m en t

, al l eg i n g, g en eral l y

, t h at h i s co n v i ct i o n s an d

s en t en ces are v o i d b ecau s e h i s i n d i ct m en t was fat al l y d efect i v e. Th e t ri al co u rt

d en ied Th o m

p s o n ’ s m ot i o n o n J u n e 1 6 , 2 0 0 9 , an d h e fi l ed t h is t i m el y ap p eal

. 1

“ [A] p et i t io n t o 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 in al cas e[,] ” an d an y ap p eal fro m an o rd er d en y i n g o r d i s m i s s i n g

1 Al t h o u gh Th o m

ps o n fi l ed h i s n o t i ce o f ap peal i n J u n e 2 0 0 9

, t h e ap p eal was

n o t t ran s m i t ted t o t h i s Co u rt u n t i l Oct o ber 20 1 5

. Acco rd i n g t o t h e Cl erk o f t h e

Su p eri o r Co u rt

, t h e d el ay in t ran s m i t t al was t h e res u l t of Th o m p s o n ’ s fai lu re t o t ak e

t h e s t ep s n eces sary t o p erfect th e reco rd

. See OCGA § 1 5 -6 -8 0 (“ In al l cas es cert i fi ed

t o t h e ap p el l at e co u rt s

, t h e co s t s fo r p rep ari n g t h e t ran s cri p t o f t h e reco rd s h al l b e p ai d

b y t h e ap p el lan t to t h e cl erk b efo re t h e s am e i s t ran s m it t ed u n l es s t h e ju d g e p res i d i n g

o v er t h e cas e b ei n g ap p eal ed ap p ro v es an affi d av i t s ub m i t t ed t o th e ju d g e b y t h e

ap p el l an t cert i fy i n g t h at t h e ap p el l an t i s u n ab l e t o pay s u ch co s t s o r u p o n t h e

ap p el l an t p ro v i d i ng ad eq u at e s ecu ri t y fo r s u ch c osts. ” )

. In l i g ht o f Th o m p s o n ’ s fai l u re

t o co m p l y w i t h t h o se req u i r e m e n t s

, t h e ap peal was s u bject t o d i s m i ss al b y t h e t ri al

co u rt

. See O CGA § 5 -6 -4 8 (c) (t ri al co u rt m ay d i s m i s s an ap p eal i f t h ere h as b een an

u n reas o nab l e d el ay i n t h e fi li n g o f t h e t ran s cri p t o r t ran s m i s s i o n o f t he reco rd

, i f t h e

d el ay was i n ex cu s ab l e an d was cau s ed b y t h e ap p el l an t ’ s fai l u re t o p ay co s t s o r fi l e

an affi d av i t o f i n d ig en ce). N ev ert h el es s, an d des p i te Th o m p s o n ’ s co n t i n u ed fai l u re

t o t ak e t h e s t ep s n eces s ary t o p erfect t h e reco rd

, t he t ri al co u rt h as n o w t ran s m i t t ed

t h e cas e t o t h i s Co u rt

. February 22, 2016s u c h a m o t i o n m u st b e d i s m is s ed

. Ha r

p er v. S t a t e

, 28 6 Ga. 2 1 6 (6 8 6 SE2 d 7 8 6 )

(2 0 0 9); see al s o B a l l v. S t at e

, 2 8 6 Ga. 3 6 3 (6 8 8 SE2 d 3 54 ) (2 0 1 0) (ap p l y in g Ha r p er

ru l e i n a cas e w here th e n o t i ce o f ap p eal was f i l e d b e f o r e H a r p er w as i s s u ed ). A

d i rect ap p eal l i es fro m an o rd er d en y i n g o r d is m is s i n g a m o t i o n t o co rrect a v o id

s en t en ce, b u t o n l y i f t he d efen dan t rai s es a co l o rab l e cl ai m t h at t h e s e n t en ce i s

, in

fact

, v oi d o r i l l eg al

. See Ha r p er

, s u p ra at n .1 (6 86 SE2 d 7 8 6 ) (2 0 0 9); Bu r g v. S t a t e

,

2 9 7 Ga. Ap p

. 1 1 8, 1 1 9 (6 7 6 SE2 d 4 6 5 ) (2 0 0 9 ). A sen t en ce i s v o id o n l y wh en t h e t ri al

co u rt im p o s es p u n i s h m en t t h at t h e l aw d oes n o t al l o w. See Jo r d a n v. S t at e

, 2 5 3 Ga.

Ap p . 5 1 0 , 5 1 1 (1 ) (5 5 9 SE2 d 5 2 8 ) (2 0 0 2 ).

Here, Th o m

p s o n do es no t co n t en d t h at hi s s en t en ce fal l s o u t s i d e t h e st at u t o ry

ran g e. In s t ead

, h e co nt en d s t h at h is s en t en ce i s v o i d b ecau s e h i s in d i ct m en t fai l ed to

ch arg e t h e es s en t ial el em en t s o f t h e o ffen s es

. Th is is n o t a v al i d v oi d -s en t en ce

arg u m en t

. S

ee S h el t o n v. S t a t e

, 30 7 Ga. Ap p. 5 9 9

, 6 0 3 (3 ) ( b ) (7 0 5 SE2 d 6 9 9 )

(2 0 1 1). U n d e r t h es e ci rcu m s t an ces

, we lack ju ri s di ct io n t o rev i ew t h e t ri al co urt ’ s

o rd er. Acco rd i n g l y , t h i s ap peal i s h ereb y DISM ISSED.

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

. 02/22/2016