Moran Vasquez Hernan-Elias v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ September 11, 2023 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A24A0154. MORAN VASQUEZ HERNAN-ELIAS v. THE STATE. A jury found Moran Vasquez Hernan-Elias guilty of trafficking in cocaine, and this Court affirmed the conviction on appeal. See Case No. A16A0810 (June 10, 2016). In 2023, Hernan-Elias filed an extraordinary motion for new trial, which the trial court denied on March 27, 2023. On June 26, 2023, Hernan-Elias filed a motion for an out-of-time appeal from the March 27 order. The trial court dismissed the motion based on the Supreme Court’s holding in Cook v. State, 313 Ga. 471 (870 SE2d 758) (2022), and Hernan-Elias appeals. We, however, lack jurisdiction. In Cook, the Supreme Court determined that a trial court lacks authority to grant an out-of-time appeal. Id. at 506 (5). Hernan-Elias, therefore, “had no right to file a motion for an out-of-time appeal in the trial court; his remedy, if any, lies in habeas corpus.” Rutledge v. State, 313 Ga. 460, 461 (870 SE2d 720) (2022). Thus, the trial court correctly determined that it did not have jurisdiction to consider Hernan-Elias’s motion for an out-of-time appeal, and the court’s order dismissing the motion does not present a cognizable basis for an appeal. See Henderson v. State, 303 Ga. 241, 244 (2) (811 SE2d 388) (2018). Accordingly, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 09/11/2023 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.