Douglas G. Burley v. State ( 2019 )

Court of Appeals
of the State of Georgia
ATLANTA,____________________
June 27, 2019
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
A19D0502. DOUGLAS G. BURLEY v. THE STATE.
In 1992, Douglas G. Burley pleaded guilty to one count of malice murder and
the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment. In May 2019, Burley filed a motion
seeking an out-of-time appeal, which the trial court denied. Burley then filed the
instant application for discretionary appeal.
Under our Constitution, the Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction over
“[a]ll cases in which a sentence of death was imposed or could be imposed.” Ga.
Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Par. III (8). Because a penalty of death may be
imposed for the crime of malice murder, jurisdiction over this application appears to
be proper in the Supreme Court. See OCGA § 16-5-1 (a), (e) (1); Neal v. State, 290
Ga. 563, 572 (722 SE2d 765) (2012) (Hunstein, C. J., concurring); see also State v.
Thornton, 253 Ga. 524, 524 (1) (322 SE2d 711) (1984) (directing this Court to
transfer “all cases in which either a sentence of death or of life imprisonment has been
imposed upon conviction of murder”); accord Saxton v. Coastal Dialysis & Med.
Clinic, Inc., 267 Ga. 177, 178 (476 SE2d 587) (1996) (the Supreme Court has the
ultimate responsibility for determining appellate jurisdiction).
Accordingly, Burley’s application is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme
Court for disposition.
Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________
06/27/2019
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.