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Ball v. State

A petition to vacate a judgment of conviction is not an appropriate remedy in a criminal case.

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Appellant Antwann Paquila Ball is serving a sentence of life imprisonment, having been convicted in 2004 of malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The judgment of conviction was affirmed on appeal in Brooks et al. v. State , 281 Ga. 14 635 SE2d 723 2006. In 2007, appellant filed a motion to vacate a void judgment pursuant to OCGA § 17-9-4, and the trial court dismissed appellant’s motion on the ground that the incarcerated appellant had failed to appear at a hearing on the motion. Appellant filed in this Court a timely application for discretionary appeal from that ruling, and this Court granted the application pursuant to OCGA § 5-6-35j because appellant was entitled to a direct appeal at that time since his motion contained a ground upon which the judgment of conviction can be declared void. Chester v. State , 284 Ga. 162, 163 664 SE2d 220 2008; Jones v. State , 282 Ga. 568 651 SE2d 728 2007; Collins v. State , 277 Ga. 586, 587 591 SE2d 820 2004. Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal pursuant to the grant of his discretionary application, and this appeal resulted. Since appellant’s application was granted, this Court has determined that a petition to vacate a judgment of conviction is not an appropriate remedy in a criminal case. Harper v. State , __Ga.__ 2009 WL 4016179 Case No. S09A1019, decided 11/23/09. Inasmuch as Ball was not entitled under the most recent ruling of this Court to file a motion to vacate his criminal conviction on the ground that it was void, his appeal from the dismissal of that motion is dismissed as improvidently granted.

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