Anthony Lamar Cowan v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ September 29, 2016

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A17A0289. ANTHONY LAMAR COWAN v. THE STATE.

Anthony Cowan was found guilty of two counts of armed robbery, two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. He was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the armed robberies and to concurrent five-year terms for each of the remaining counts. We affirmed his convictions on appeal. Cowan v. State, 243 Ga. App. 388 (531 SE2d 785) (2000). Cowan later filed a “Motion for Resentencing of Void Sentence,” claiming that he had been improperly sentenced as a recidivist. The trial court denied the motion, and we dismissed Cowan’s appeal of the denial on the basis that he had not raised a colorable void sentence claim because his sentence was within prescribed statutory limits. Cowan v. State, Case No. A12D0251 (decided February 24, 2012). Most recently, Cowan filed a motion to vacate void sentence, again claiming that he had been improperly sentenced as a recidivist. The trial court dismissed the motion, and Cowan appeals. We lack jurisdiction. “It is well established that any issue that was raised and resolved in an earlier appeal is the law of the case and is binding on this Court, and that the law of the case doctrine is not confined to civil cases, but applies also to rulings made by appellate courts in criminal cases.” Ross v. State, 310 Ga. App. 326, 327 (713 SE2d 438) (2011) (citations and punctuation omitted). Cowan’s current appeal seeks to have us revisit issues that we have already decided, but we are precluded from doing so. See id. at 328. This appeal is therefore DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 09/29/2016 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 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.