Crumbley v. State
| Decision Date | 18 October 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. S91A1126,S91A1126 |
| Citation | 261 Ga. 610,409 S.E.2d 517 |
| Parties | CRUMBLEY v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Troy Paul Crumbley, pro se.
Lewis R. Slaton, Dist. Atty., Michael J. Bowers, Atty. Gen., Richard Hicks, Asst. Dist. Atty., Atlanta, for the State.
Troy Paul Crumbley was sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to the murder of Tommy Williams. The judge ordered Crumbley's sentence "to run concurrently with federal case # 87-250-A now serving," although Crumbley was not serving any federal sentence at that time. He pled guilty that day to two federal charges; the federal court sentenced him four months later. Three years later, Crumbley filed a motion for entry of a valid judgment of sentence. He argues that his sentence of life imprisonment is void because his federal sentence had not been imposed when the judge ordered the state sentence to run concurrently with it. The trial court found that his sentence is valid and denied the motion. We affirm.
1. A trial court has no jurisdiction to modify a sentence after the term of court ends or sixty days pass. Heard v. Gill, 204 Ga. 261, 49 S.E.2d 656 (1948); OCGA § 17-10-1. Where a sentence is void, however, the court may resentence the defendant at any time. Mullins v. State, 134 Ga.App. 243, 214 S.E.2d 1 (1975). A sentence is void if the court imposes punishment that the law does not allow. See, e.g., Wade v. State, 231 Ga. 131, 134-35, 200 S.E.2d 271 (1973) (). In this case, the trial court is required to impose a life sentence after Crumbley entered a guilty plea to murder. See OCGA §§ 16-5-1(d); 16-1-3(4). Therefore, the judgment is not void.
2. Moreover, the trial judge had the discretion to order Crumbley's state sentence to run concurrently with his federal sentence. See Taylor v. Green, 229 Ga. 164, 190 S.E.2d 66 (1972); Huff v. State, 135 Ga.App. 134, 135-36, 217 S.E.2d 187 (1975). We construe Crumbley's sentence to mean that his term of life imprisonment would run concurrently with his federal sentence as soon as it was imposed. See Jenkins v. Montgomery, 248 Ga. 696, 285 S.E.2d 706 (1982) (). The four-month delay in federal court between Crumbley's guilty plea and sentencing did not void his valid state sentence. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's denial of Crumbley's motion.
...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Von Thomas v. State
...As we have explained before, “[a] sentence is void if the court imposes punishment that the law does not allow.” Crumbley v. State, 261 Ga. 610, 611(1), 409 S.E.2d 517 (1991) (citation omitted). See also Rooney, 287 Ga. at 2(2), 690 S.E.2d 804;Jones v. State, 278 Ga. 669, 670, 604 S.E.2d 48......
-
Williams v. State
...the jury."18 The error in extending Sprouse to non-death penalty cases becomes apparent when reviewing the definition of a void sentence. In Crumbley, we held that "[a] sentence is void if the court imposes punishment that the law does not allow. See, e.g., Wade v. State, 231 Ga. 131, 134-1......
-
Loveless v. State
...510, 511 (1), 559 S.E.2d 528 (2002) ; accord Williams v. State , 271 Ga. 686, 689 (2), 523 S.E.2d 857 (1999) ; Crumbley v. State , 261 Ga. 610, 610 (2), 409 S.E.2d 517 (1991).12 OCGA § 16-13-31.13 See Williams , 271 Ga. at 689 (2), 523 S.E.2d 857 ; Crumbley , 261 Ga. at 610 (2), 409 S.E.2d ......
-
Kaiser v. State
...neither that case nor any other cases citing Mullins have specifically addressed the issue before us. See, e.g., Crumbley v. State, 261 Ga. 610, 611(1), 409 S.E.2d 517 (1991); Thomas v. State, 272 Ga.App. 279, 612 S.E.2d 99 (2005) (distinguishing Mullins); State v. Stuckey, 145 Ga.App. 434,......