Thanks for visiting! Welcome to a new way to research case law. You are viewing a free summary from Descrybe.ai. For citation and good law / bad law checking, legal issue analysis, and other advanced tools, explore our Legal Research Toolkit — not free, but close.
Mathis v. State
Citations: 235 Ga. App. 222; 510 S.E.2d 300; 99 Fulton County D. Rep. 94; 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 1474Docket: A98A1028
Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia; November 12, 1998; Georgia; State Appellate Court
Defendant Mathis filed a pro se appeal challenging the denial of his motion to vacate, set aside, or modify his sentence. The court held that a trial court lacks jurisdiction to modify a sentence after the court term has ended or 60 days have passed, as per OCGA 15-6-3. The court may resentence if the original sentence is void, but Mathis did not demonstrate that his sentence was void, thus the superior court could not modify it. Mathis presented two arguments in support of his motion. First, he cited Banks v. State, asserting that the trial court must consider probation as part of sentencing; however, the court found this case inapplicable to his situation. Second, he argued that certain prior convictions were consolidated for trial under OCGA 17-10-7(d), but this claim was deemed meritless based on precedents such as Philmore v. State and Mims v. State. The court also reviewed other claims made by Mathis regarding his right to challenge the district attorney's defenses, discovery of documents, and the need for an oral hearing. None of these claims were found to have merit, and there was no authority supporting his assertion that he was entitled to appointed counsel for his motion. Consequently, all of Mathis's enumerations of error were rejected, leading to an affirmation of the superior court's judgment. Judges Blackburn and Eldridge concurred with the decision.