Rico T. Wright v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ October 14, 2015

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A16D0048. RICO T. WRIGHT v. THE STATE.

Rico T. Wright, who is proceeding pro se, was convicted of two counts of aggravated assault. Wright challenged his convictions by direct appeal to this Court, and the judgment was affirmed. Wright v. State, 302 Ga. App. 101 (690 SE2d 220) (2010). Proceeding pro se, Wright has filed this application for discretionary appeal from an order denying his “Motion to Vacate Void Judgment,” in which he argues that his aggravated assault convictions should have been merged. We lack jurisdiction for two reasons. First, we held on direct appeal that the jury was authorized to convict Wright on both counts of aggravated assault. Id. at 102 (1). This Court’s affirmance is res judicata. Stirling v. State, 199 Ga. App. 877 (406 SE2d 282) (1991). “It is axiomatic that the same issue cannot be relitigated ad infinitum. The same is true of appeals of the same issue on the same grounds.” Echols v. State, 243 Ga. App. 775, 776 (534 SE2d 464) (2000); see also Jordan v. State, 253 Ga. App. 510, 511 (2) (559 SE2d 528) (2002). Thus, Wright is estopped from seeking further judicial review on this issue. Second, a motion seeking to challenge an allegedly invalid or void judgment of conviction “is not one of the established procedures for challenging the validity of a judgment in a criminal case.” Roberts v. State, 286 Ga. 532 (690 SE2d 150) (2010). Therefore, Wright is not authorized to collaterally attack his convictions in this manner, and his application must be dismissed for this reason as well. See id.; see

also Harper v. State, 286 Ga. 216, 218 (1) (686 SE2d 786) (2009) (overruling Chester v. State, 284 Ga. 162, 162-163 (2) (664 SE2d 220) (2008)); Matherlee v. State, 303 Ga. App. 765 (694 SE2d 665) (2010). Accordingly, this application is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 10/14/2015 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.