Summary
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the denial of Brandon Terry-Hall’s motion for an out-of-time appeal following his guilty pleas to felony murder and other offenses. The court held that Terry-Hall waived his ineffective-assistance arguments by failing to raise them in the trial court and lacked jurisdiction to review his challenges to the factual basis for his guilty pleas because he was not granted an out-of-time appeal.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the trial court abused its discretion by denying Terry-Hall's motion for an out-of-time appeal without an evidentiary hearing based on ineffective-assistance claims that were not raised in the motion.
- Whether the Supreme Court of Georgia had jurisdiction to review challenges to the factual basis and voluntariness of Terry-Hall's guilty pleas when the motion for an out-of-time appeal was denied.
Holdings
- A trial court is not required to hold an evidentiary hearing merely because a defendant files a motion for an out-of-time appeal. The defendant must raise an allegation that counsel's deficient performance deprived the defendant of an appeal of right; claims not raised in the trial court are waived on appeal.
- The Supreme Court of Georgia lacks jurisdiction to review claims challenging a defendant's convictions, including challenges to the factual basis and voluntariness of guilty pleas, when the defendant has not been granted an out-of-time appeal.
Key quotations
“It is well settled that errors not raised in the trial court will not be heard on appeal.” (4)
“To the extent that Terry-Hall suggests that the filing of a motion for an out-of-time appeal automatically obliges a trial court to hold an evidentiary hearing, regardless of the allegations made in the motion, there is no authority for such a proposition.” (6)
“This Court has no jurisdiction to review these claims challenging Terry-Hall’s convictions, however, because Terry-Hall was not granted an out-of-time appeal.” (7)
Factual background
A Henry County grand jury indicted Terry-Hall and three other defendants for murder-related and other offenses arising from a September 2012 burglary during which one victim was fatally shot and another was non-fatally shot. Terry-Hall pleaded guilty to four offenses, and the remaining counts were nolle prossed. The trial court imposed concurrent life sentences on the felony-murder and armed-robbery counts, followed by consecutive sentences for burglary and false imprisonment.
Procedural history
Terry-Hall pleaded guilty in the Henry County Superior Court to felony murder predicated on aggravated assault, burglary, armed robbery, and false imprisonment and received concurrent and consecutive prison sentences. More than three years later, he filed a pro se motion for an out-of-time appeal, challenging the factual basis and voluntariness of his plea but not alleging that counsel had deprived him of a timely appeal or failed to move to withdraw the plea. The trial court denied the motion without a hearing, and the Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed.