SLEDGE v. THE STATE

Court of Appeals of Georgia2000-07-24No. A00A1291

245 Ga. App. 488537 S.E.2d 753

Summary · law.co

Holding. The trial court correctly determined it lacked jurisdiction to modify Sledge's 1995 sentence because his convictions for entering three automobiles did not merge as a matter of law, and therefore his sentence was not void. The judgment was affirmed.

Carlos Sledge appealed a trial court's decision to dismiss his motion to modify a sentence imposed in 1995. Sledge argued that the trial court retained jurisdiction because his original sentence was allegedly void—specifically, he claimed his three convictions for entering automobiles should have merged into a single conviction under precedent established in an earlier case involving theft offenses. The court explained that while trial courts generally lose the power to modify sentences after the term ends, an exception exists when a sentence is void, meaning it imposes punishment not authorized by law. A sentence becomes void when convictions that should have merged as a matter of law were instead treated as separate offenses.

The appellate court rejected Sledge's argument because the legal principle he relied upon did not apply to his charges. The prior case involved theft, which is defined with reference to property ownership, meaning multiple items taken from the same owner in one transaction constitute one offense. By contrast, the crime of entering an automobile is not defined by reference to property ownership; therefore, entering multiple vehicles belonging to the same person can support separate convictions. Since Sledge's convictions did not merge, his sentence was not void, and the trial court properly lacked jurisdiction to modify it.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

Whether a trial court retains jurisdiction to modify a sentence after the term in which it was rendered when the sentence is allegedly void
Whether convictions for entering multiple automobiles merge under the legal theory that applied to multiple theft convictions
Whether the crime of entering an automobile is defined by reference to property ownership such that multiple entries could constitute a single offense

Procedural posture

Sledge appealed pro se from the trial court's denial of his motion to modify his 1995 sentence on jurisdictional grounds approximately two years after sentencing.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion · public domain

majority opinion

Barnes, Judge.

Carlos Angelo Sledge, pro se, appeals from the trial court’s refusal to consider his motion to modify his sentence based upon the trial court’s determination that it had no jurisdiction over the motion. For reasons that follow, we affirm.

The record shows that Sledge pled guilty in June 1995 to three counts of entering an automobile. The trial court probated nearly all of the sentence, sentencing Sledge to fifteen years on probation, five years on each of the three counts to run consecutively, provided that Sledge serve sixty to 120 days in detention. While on probation, Sledge committed a robbery and entered a guilty plea to that crime. On November 6, 1997, after giving Sledge credit for time served, the trial court revoked the remainder of the probated sentence.

Approximately two years later, Sledge filed a pro se motion to modify the sentence, asserting that his original sentence was unlawful because his three convictions for entering an automobile merged under the authority of Breland v. State, 135 Ga. App. 478, 479 (1) (b) (218 SE2d 153) (1975). The trial court denied the motion, finding that because the original sentence had been entered on June 19, 1995, the court no longer had jurisdiction.

On appeal, Sledge asserts the trial court retained jurisdiction to modify his original sentence because it was invalid and void. In a criminal case, the inherent power of a trial court to modify, suspend, or vacate a judgment ceases at the end of the term in which it is rendered. Pledger v. State, 193 Ga. App. 588, 589 (2) (a) (388 SE2d 425) (1989). But if the original sentence is void, then a trial court may impose a new and valid sentence at any time. Gonzales v. State, 201 Ga. App. 437, 438 (411 SE2d 345) (1991). A sentence is void if it imposes punishment not permitted by law. Crumbley v. State, 261 Ga. 610, 611 (1) (409 SE2d 517) (1991); Penney v. State, 236 Ga. App. 442 (511 SE2d 275) (1999). In Kinney v. State, 234 Ga. App. 5, 7 (2) (505 SE2d 553) (1998), we stated that “a trial court is without subject matter jurisdiction to sentence on an offense that has merged into another offense as a matter of law and/or fact. Such a sentence would be a mere nullity because the conviction on a merged offense is against the law.” Thus, if Sledge is correct that his convictions merged, the trial court would have had jurisdiction to modify his sentence.

In Breland, supra, we held that the theft of two trucks, “taken from the same place at the same time from the same owner under the same circumstances, can only constitute one offense.” 135 Ga. App. at 479. In this case, Sledge was not charged with theft, but instead with entering an automobile. Because theft by taking is defined differ ently from entering an automobile, Breland does not control the outcome of this case.

Decided July 24, 2000

Reconsideration denied August 8, 2000

Carlos Sledge, pro se.

Charles H. Weston, District Attorney, Howard Z. Simms, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.

A person commits the offense of theft by taking when he unlawfully takes or, being in lawful possession thereof, unlawfully appropriates any property of another with the intention of depriving him of the property, regardless of the manner in which said property is taken or appropriated.

(Emphasis supplied.) OCGA § 16-8-2. Since “property of another” is statutorily defined as “property in which any person other than the accused has an interest,” OCGA § 16-8-1 (3), theft of more than one item from a single owner in a single transaction is but one offense. Breland, 135 Ga. App. at 479.

Because the definition of entering an automobile is not defined by reference to property of another, entering more than one automobile owned by the same person can support multiple convictions. As a result, Sledge’s convictions for entering three automobiles owned by the same person did not merge, his sentence was not void, and the trial court, therefore, correctly concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to modify Sledge’s sentence.

Judgment affirmed.

Blackburn, P. J., and Eldridge, J., concur.

See also Ga. Code Ann. § 26-1802 (a), which is the version of this statute in effect at the time Breland was decided.

See also Ga. Code Ann. § 26-1801 (c), which is the version of this statute in effect at the time Breland was decided.

“If any person shall enter any automobile or other motor vehicle with the intent to commit a theft or a felony, he shall be guilty of a felony. . . .” OCGA § 16-8-18.