Collins v. State
| Decision Date | 18 July 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 32685,32685 |
| Citation | 236 S.E.2d 759,239 Ga. 400 |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
| Parties | Eddie COLLINS v. The STATE. |
Rice & Lawrence, George D. Lawrence, Jr., Eatonton, for appellant.
Joseph H. Briley, Dist. Atty., Gray, Arthur K. Bolton, Atty. Gen., Atlanta, for appellee.
Eddie Collins was convicted of rape, kidnapping, and armed robbery. He received a life sentence for the rape conviction and two fifteen-year sentences for the other two crimes to run concurrently. His appeal to this court was docketed July 7, 1977.
1. This court must inquire into its own jurisdiction. Carparking, Inc. v. Chappell's Inc., 213 Ga. 637, 100 S.E.2d 896 (1957); Dade County v. State of Ga., 201 Ga. 241, 39 S.E.2d 473 (1946); Welborne v. State, 114 Ga. 793, 40 S.E. 857 (1902). Therefore, we review the legislative act passed this year by the General Assembly, which changes the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. Act No. 299, Ga.L.1977, p. 710. The act provides that the Court of Appeals shall have jurisdiction of appeals from armed robbery, rape and kidnapping convictions, where the death penalty is not imposed, while the Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction of appeals in cases involving state revenue, contested elections, and the validity of municipal legislative enactments. The effective date of the act is July 1, 1977.
The Constitution provides, among other things, that the Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction of appeals ". . . until otherwise provided by law, . . .; in all cases of conviction of a capital felony; . . ." Code Ann. § 2-3104. There is no constitutional provision that the Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction of appeals in cases involving state revenue, contested elections and the validity of municipal legislative enactments. Accordingly the Court of Appeals has jurisdiction of such appeals under the Constitution. The Constitution provides, "The Court of Appeals shall have jurisdiction . . . in all cases in which such jurisdiction has not been conferred by this Constitution upon the Supreme Court, and in such other cases as may now or hereafter be prescribed by law; . . ." Code Ann. § 2-3108. Thus it is seen that Ga.L.1977, p. 710, has reversed the appellate jurisdiction of the type cases treated therein. Jurisdiction of appeals from convictions of armed robbery, rape and kidnapping as capital felonies under Georgia statutes is given to the Supreme Court under the Constitution. The 1977 statute provides the Court of Appeals shall have jurisdiction of such appeals where the death penalty is not imposed. Jurisdiction of appeals from cases involving state revenue, contested elections and the validity of municipal legislative enactments is given to the Court of Appeals under the Constitution. The 1977 statute provides the Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction of such appeals.
The change of appellate jurisdiction of convictions of armed robbery, rape and kidnapping from the Supreme Court to the Court of Appeals is specifically authorized by the Constitution and the General Assembly may effect such a transfer provided such an enactment conforms to other constitutional provisions.
However, the transfer of cases to this court by the General Assembly is another matter. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is limited by the Georgia Constitution, 1976 Ga.Const., Art. VI, Sec. II, Par. IV (Code Ann. § 2-3104). As stated in American Mills Co. v. Doyal, 174 Ga. 631(2)(b), 163 S.E. 603 (1932): "The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is declared by the constitution . . . and the legislature is without power by mere enactment to confer jurisdiction upon the Supreme Court to decide questions that are not of the class to which the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is limited by the constitution." The General Assembly has no authority to prescribe cases to the Supreme Court. We hold that the attempt by the General Assembly to enlarge the jurisdiction of this court is unconstitutional and that part of Ga.L.1977, p. 710, giving the Supreme Court jurisdiction of appeals in cases involving state revenue, contested elections and the validity of municipal legislative enactments is void.
We do not reach the issue of whether the 1977 act is severable and consequently whether the entire act is unconstitutional. This question is moot under division two of this opinion.
2. The Georgia Constitution confers jurisdiction on this court "in all cases of conviction of a capital felony." 1976 Ga.Const., supra. The United States Supreme Court in Coker v. Georgia, --- U.S. ----, 97 S.Ct. 2861, 53 L.Ed.2d 982 (1977), held that the death penalty can no longer be imposed for rape under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution where the victim is not killed. This court has held that armed robbery alone does not warrant the death penalty. Gregg v. State, 233 Ga. 117, 210 S.E.2d 659 (1974). In our opinion the rationale of Coker must be applied also to armed robbery and kidnapping. See Eberheart v. State (two death sentences for rape and kidnapping with bodily injury) affirmed 232 Ga. 247, 206 S.E.2d 12 (1974); reversed Eberheart v. Georgia, --- U.S. ----, 97 S.Ct. 2994, 53 L.Ed.2d 1104 (No. 74-5174, decided June 29, 1977). 1 Therefore the death penalty may not be imposed for these crimes under present Georgia statutes. It follows that there can be no "conviction of a capital felony" for these crimes within the meaning of the constitutional provision establishing the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. "In our view the expression 'capital felony,' when used in our law, is merely descriptive of those felonies to which the death penalty is affixed as a punishment under given circumstances to distinguish such felonies from that class in which under no circumstances would death ever be inflicted as a penalty for the violation of the same." Caesar v. State, 127 Ga. 710, 712, 57 S.E. 66 (1906) (Emphasis supplied.) We conclude that convictions of rape, kidnapping and armed robbery under present Georgia statutes are no longer convictions of capital felonies for appellate jurisdictional purposes and jurisdiction of these appeals lies in the Court of Appeals.
In the interests of orderly administration, this court exercises its inherent power and directs that this ruling be effective with other cases docketed on and after August 1, 1977.
3. To effectuate the...
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Presnell v. State, 32995
...circumstance unclear. Therefore, the sentence of death for kidnapping with bodily harm is vacated. See also Collins v. State, 239 Ga. 400, 236 S.E.2d 759 (1977). The jury found that the defendant committed the malice murder of the younger child while engaged in the commission of the capital......
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...for kidnapping with bodily injury is not unconstitutional where the victim is killed. See Coker v. Georgia, supra; Collins v. State, 239 Ga. 400, 236 S.E.2d 759 (1977). We must also determine whether the sentence of death is excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar ca......
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