Title: BALL v. THE STATE
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: S09A1469
State: Georgia
Issuer: Georgia Supreme Court
Date: January 25, 2010

In the Supreme Court of Georgia Decided: January 25, 2010 S09A1469. BALL v. THE STATE BENHAM, Justice. Appellant Antwann Paquila Ball is serving a sentence of life imprisonment, having been convicted in 2004 of malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The judgment of conviction was affirmed on appeal in Brooks et al. v. State, 281 Ga. 14 (635 SE2d 723) (2006). In 2007, appellant filed a motion to vacate a void judgment pursuant to OCGA § 17-9-4, and the trial court dismissed appellant’s motion on the ground that the incarcerated appellant had failed to appear at a hearing on the motion. Appellant filed in this Court a timely application for discretionary appeal from that ruling, and this Court granted the application pursuant to OCGA § 5-6-35(j) because appellant was entitled to a direct appeal at that time since his motion contained a ground upon which the judgment of conviction can be declared void. Chester v. State, 284 Ga. 162, 163 (664 SE2d 220) (2008); Jones v. State, 282 Ga. 568 (651 SE2d 728) (2007); Collins v. State, 277 Ga. 586, 587 (591 SE2d 820) (2004). Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal pursuant to the grant of his discretionary application, and this appeal resulted. Since appellant’s application was granted, this Court has determined that a petition to vacate a judgment of conviction is not an appropriate remedy in a criminal case. Harper v. State, ___ Ga. ___ (2009 WL 4016179) (Case No. S09A1019, decided 11/23/09). Inasmuch as Ball was not entitled under the most recent ruling of this Court to file a motion to vacate his criminal conviction on the ground that it was void, his appeal from the dismissal of that motion is dismissed as improvidently granted. Appeal dismissed. All the Justices concur. 2