Court Opinion

ID: 9959299
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-11 15:04:01.159969+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:18:06.529635
License: Public Domain

Court of Appeals
of the State of Georgia

                                         ATLANTA,____________________
                                                  April 11, 2024

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A24A1141. ANTOINE WALKER v. THE STATE.

      In 2008, a jury found Antoine Walker guilty of kidnapping with bodily injury,
robbery, simple assault, and two counts of battery. The trial court merged the two
battery convictions and imposed a total sentence of life plus fifteen years in prison, to
be followed by seven years on probation. We affirmed Walker’s judgment of
conviction in 2010. Walker v. State, 306 Ga. App. 16 (701 SE2d 523) (2010).
      On November 14, 2023, Walker filed a pro se “Priority [Illegible] Based Upon
Official Misconduct During Sentencing Hearing,” and, on November 27, 2023, he
filed a pro se “Demand for Entry of Judgment as a Matter of Law.” In both filings,
Walker asked the trial court to correct and/or vacate his sentences, which, he alleged,
are void. The trial court construed both filings jointly as a motion to vacate a void
sentence, which the court denied. Walker then appealed to the Supreme Court of
Georgia, which transferred the matter to this Court. Walker v. State, Case
No. S24A0540 (Feb. 20, 2024). We lack jurisdiction.
      Under OCGA § 17-10-1 (f), a court may modify a sentence during the year after
its imposition or within 120 days after remittitur following a direct appeal, whichever
is later. Frazier v. State, 302 Ga. App. 346, 348 (691 SE2d 247) (2010). Once, as here,
that statutory period expires, a trial court may modify only a void sentence. Id. “A
sentence is void if the court imposes punishment that the law does not allow.” Jones
v. State, 278 Ga. 669, 670 (604 SE2d 483) (2004) (citation and punctuation omitted).
When a sentence falls within the statutory range of punishment, it is not void and is
not subject to modification beyond the time provided in OCGA § 17-10-1 (f). See id.;
see also von Thomas v. State, 293 Ga. 569, 572 (2) (748 SE2d 446) (2013) (“Motions
to vacate a void sentence generally are limited to claims that — even assuming the
existence and validity of the conviction for which the sentence was imposed — the law
does not authorize that sentence, most typically because it exceeds the most severe
punishment for which the applicable penal statute provides.”). And a direct appeal
does not lie from the denial of a motion to modify a sentence filed outside the
statutory time period unless the motion raises a colorable claim that the sentence is,
in fact, void. Frazier, 302 Ga. App. at 348.
      In his November 14 filing, Walker argued that his sentence is void because:
(i) the trial court erroneously treated the kidnapping with bodily injury as a “separate
offense” from the robbery; (ii) the severity of his sentence resulted from his decision
to go to trial; (iii) the sentence resulted from improper ex parte communications; and
(iv) the sentence is “unconstitutionally excessive” because it is “grossly out of
proportion to the severity of the crime.” In his November 27 filing, Walker further
argued that the sentences imposed for each offense are “unconstitutionally excessive”
because they “are solely dependent upon and the same [sic].” Notably, however,
Walker did not allege that any of his sentences fall outside the statutory ranges of
punishment for the crimes of which he was convicted. See von Thomas, 293 Ga. at 572
(2). Walker therefore has not raised a colorable void-sentence claim, as a result of
which this appeal is hereby DISMISSED. See Frazier, 302 Ga. App. at 348-349.

                                        Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
                                          Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________
                                                                      04/11/2024
                                                   I certify that the above is a true extract from
                                        the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia.
                                                  Witness my signature and the seal of said court
                                        hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

                                                                                          , Clerk.