Opinion ID: 76689
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Motions to Vacate Void Sentences

Text: 5 Under the law operating at the time of Estes' sentencing, Georgia courts could only modify a sentence before the expiration of the sentencing court's term or within 60 days of the original sentencing. See Reynolds v. State, 132 Ga.App. 89, 91, 207 S.E.2d 630, 632 (1974); Crumbley v. State, 261 Ga. 610, 611, 409 S.E.2d 517, 518 (1991). However, [w]here a sentence is void ... the court may resentence the defendant at any time.  Crumbley, 261 Ga. at 611, 409 S.E.2d at 518 (emphasis added). 2 See also Williams v. State, 271 Ga. 686, 523 S.E.2d 857 (1999). 6 Against this legal backdrop, the State argues that Wright v. State, 277 Ga. 810, 811, 596 S.E.2d 587, 588 (2004), bars motions to vacate such as Estes'. See id. (Wright is essentially seeking to vacate the judgment of conviction for malice murder. However, we have consistently held that a motion to vacate a judgment will not lie in a criminal case.). We are skeptical of the State's reading of Wright because the Georgia Supreme Court reiterated in 2002 and 2003 that a motion to vacate a void sentence may be filed at any time. See, e.g., Curtis v. State, 275 Ga. 576, 577-78, 571 S.E.2d 376, 379 (2002); Shields v. State, 276 Ga. 669, 671 n. 6 581 S.E.2d 536, 537 n. 6 (2003). Thus, reading Wright to bar motions to vacate void sentences would bring it into direct conflict with very recent cases, including one case upon which Wright relied. See Wright, 277 Ga. at 811 n. 4, 596 S.E.2d at 588 n. 4 (citing Shields, 276 Ga. 669, 581 S.E.2d 536). However, we need not decide this issue because Wright was decided well after Estes filed his motion; therefore any change from the prior law that it may have announced would not apply to him. See Siebert v. Campbell, 334 F.3d 1018, 1025 (11th Cir. 2003) ([W]e conclude that a rule governing filings must be `firmly established and regularly followed' before noncompliance will render a petition improperly filed for purpose of AEDPA's tolling provision.). 3