Rico Lamar Ballard v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ August 16, 2024

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A25A0131. RICO LAMAR BALLARD v. THE STATE.

In 1995, Rico Lamar Ballard was convicted of murder and other crimes, and was sentenced to life in prison. The trial court denied Ballard’s motion for new trial, and on appeal, the Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed his convictions. Ballard v. State, 268 Ga. 895 (494 SE2d 644) (1998). In 2023, Ballard filed an extraordinary motion for new trial, among other motions. In 2024, the trial court denied all of Ballard’s pending motions, and he filed this direct appeal. We lack jurisdiction. The Supreme Court of Georgia has appellate jurisdiction over “[a]ll cases in which a sentence of death was imposed or could be imposed.” Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Par. III (8). Because a penalty of death may be imposed for the crime of murder, jurisdiction is proper in the Supreme Court. See OCGA § 16-5-1 (a), (e) (1); Neal v. State, 290 Ga. 563, 572 (722 SE2d 765) (2012) (Hunstein, C. J., concurring); see also State v. Thornton, 253 Ga. 524, 524 (1) (322 SE2d 711) (1984) (directing this Court to transfer “all cases in which either a sentence of death or of life imprisonment has been imposed upon conviction of murder”), overruled in part on other grounds as recognized in Elliott v. State, 305 Ga. 179, 205 (III) (C) (i) (824 SE2d 265) (2019). The Supreme Court’s jurisdiction over murder cases includes appeals from orders resolving post-judgment motions in such cases. See Simpson v. State, 292 Ga. 764, 764 (740 SE2d 124) (2013) (appeal from denial of motion attacking murder convictions as void).

Accordingly, this appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court of Georgia for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 08/16/2024 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.