Summary
treating a motion to void judgments as a motion to withdraw guilty plea
Summary of this case from Sledge v. StateOpinion
S02A0222.
DECIDED: FEBRUARY 11, 2002.
Murder. Ware Superior Court. Before Judge Blount.
Tony Thompson, pro se. Richard E. Currie, District Attorney, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, for appellee.
Tony Thompson pled guilty to two counts of murder, among other charges, and was sentenced to life without parole in March 1998. In May 2001 Thompson filed a pro se "Motion to Void Conviction and Sentence pursuant to OCGA § 17-9-4 and Art. VI Supremacy Clause." Looking at the substance of the motion rather than its nomenclature, the filing was actually a motion to withdraw a guilty plea. His motion is thus untimely because it was filed after the term of court in which the plea was entered.Downs v. State, 270 Ga. 310 ( 509 S.E.2d 40) (1998); see alsoGipson v. State, 269 Ga. 26 ( 494 S.E.2d 669) (1998). Since Thompson's only remedy for challenging his guilty plea is through the writ of habeas corpus, the trial court did not err by dismissing his motion.
Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur.
DECIDED FEBRUARY 11, 2002 — RECONSIDERATION DENIED MARCH 11, 2002.