Few v. State

The Court dismissed the defendant's challenge to his sentence for selling cocaine, which the Sentence Review Panel reduced from life imprisonment to 20 years, because the modified 20-year sentence was within the statutory limits and any challenge to the original life sentence was moot.

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Following a jury trial in 1999, Anthony Mishum Few was convicted on one count of selling cocaine and was sentenced as a recidivist to life in prison. The Sentence Review Panel of Georgia subsequently reduced his sentence to 20 years.1 Although his conviction was previously affirmed by this Court on other grounds, Few now argues that his sentence is void because the State failed to meet its burden of proving that he was represented by counsel during a prior guilty plea upon which his recidivist sentence was based. We conclude that Few’s challenge is moot in light of the modified sentence and therefore dismiss the appeal. Under Georgia law, a sentence is void if the court imposes punishment that the law does not allow.”2 A sentence that falls within the prescribed statutory limits, however, is legally authorized and is not subject to review by this Court.3 Few’s present sentence of twenty years, as modified by the Sentence Review Panel, falls within the statutory range of sentencing for the sale of cocaine, even as a first offender.4 It follows, then, that any challenge that Few may have had to the original life sentence imposed by the trial court, even if meritorious, is rendered moot.5 Few’s appeal is therefore dismissed.6

Appeal dismissed. Smith, P.J., and Mikell, J., concur .

Few v. State

The Court dismissed the defendant's challenge to his sentence for selling cocaine, which the Sentence Review Panel reduced from life imprisonment to 20 years, because the modified 20-year sentence was within the statutory limits and any challenge to the original life sentence was moot.

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