Kyjuane L. Chatman v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ December 19, 2014

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A15D0175. KYJUANE L. CHATMAN v. THE STATE.

In 2004, Chatman was convicted of rape, aggravated sodomy, kidnapping, and false imprisonment. The trial court imposed life sentences on the rape and aggravated sodomy counts, twenty years for kidnapping, and ten years for false imprisonment.1 The trial court ordered that all of the sentences were to run concurrently. We affirmed Chatman’s convictions on appeal. See Chatman v. State, 283 Ga. App. 673 (642 SE2d 361) (2007). In October 2014, Chatman filed a motion to modify his sentence, arguing that the state did not give notice of its intent to sentence him as a recidivist. The trial court denied the motion and this application followed. An appeal lies from the denial of a motion to correct a void sentence when the defendant raises a colorable claim that the sentence is, in fact, void or illegal. See Burg v. State, 297 Ga. App. 118, 119 (676 SE2d 465) (2009). “Under Georgia law, a sentence is void if the court imposes punishment that the law does not allow. A sentence that falls within the prescribed statutory limits, however, is legally authorized and is not subject to review by this Court.” (Punctuation and citation omitted.) Few v. State, 311 Ga. App. 608 (716 SE2d 644) (2011). Under OCGA § 16- 6-1 (b), a person convicted of rape, whether or not he is a recidivist, may be punished by “imprisonment for life without parole, by imprisonment for life, or by a split sentence that is a term of imprisonment for not less than 25 years and not exceeding life imprisonment, followed by probation.”

1 Chatman also pled guilty to marijuana possession for which he received a sentence of 12 months.

Because Chatman’s sentence was within prescribed statutory limits, he has not raised a colorable void sentence claim. Accordingly, we lack jurisdiction to review his claim. His application, therefore, is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 12/19/2014 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.