Pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, Dena King pled guilty to charges of robbery and aggravated assault, and the state recommended concurrent 20-year sentences, with 15 years to be served in prison. The superior court accepted King’s guilty plea, but announced that it was not going to follow the recommended sentence. The court then imposed concurrent sentences of 15 years, with 5 years to be served in prison and the remainder on probation. The state moved to set aside the guilty plea and sentence, claiming that the trial court was required to follow the state’s recommended sentence or to give the state a chance to withdraw from the negotiated plea. The trial court denied the motion, noting, among other things, that all plea bargains are mere recommendations subject to the trial court’s approval and that sentencing is within the complete purview of the court as long as it is within statutory limits. The state directly appealed, claiming it is entitled to appeal from allegedly void sentences. But because the state’s claims do not actually amount to allegations that the sentences are void, the state cannot directly appeal. Accordingly, this court lacks jurisdiction and the appeal must be dismissed.
“In OCGA § 5-7-1 a, the General Assembly has set forth only a limited right of appeal for the state in criminal cases. If the state attempts an appeal outside the ambit of OCGA § 5-7-1 a, the appellate courts do not have jurisdiction to entertain it.” State v. Evans, 282 Ga. 63, 64 646 SE2d 77 2007 citations and punctuation omitted. In this case, the state contends that it has the right to appeal pursuant to OCGA § 5-7-1 a 6, which provides that the state may appeal “from an order, decision, or judgment of a court where the court does not have jurisdiction or the order is otherwise void under the Constitution or laws of this state.”1 This statutory language has indeed been recognized as authorizing the state “to appeal a void sentence.” State v. Jones, 265 Ga. App. 493 1 594 SE2d 706 2004 citations omitted. See also State v. Carden, 281 Ga. App. 886 637 SE2d 493 2006.
