Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ January 18, 2019 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A19A0910. JUDSON RUFFIN v. THE STATE.

Judson Ruffin was found guilty of murder and other crimes and was sentenced to death. On appeal, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed his convictions and sentence. Ruffin v. State, 243 Ga. 95 (252 SE2d 472) (1979). After Ruffin successfully petitioned for habeas corpus relief in federal court, however, his convictions were reversed. See Ruffin v. Kemp, 767 F.2d 748 (11th Cir. 1985). Ruffin was then re-indicted on the same charges. In 1994, he pleaded guilty to the charges in exchange for a sentence of life without possibility of parole. In 2018, Ruffin filed a motion to vacate and correct a void sentence. The trial court dismissed the motion, and Ruffin appealed to this Court. We, however, lack jurisdiction.

Under our Constitution, the Georgia Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction over “[a]ll cases in which a sentence of death was imposed or could be imposed.” See Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Par. III (8). Because a penalty of death can be imposed for the crime of murder, jurisdiction is proper in the Supreme Court. See OCGA § 16-5-1 (e) (1); Neal v. State, 290 Ga. 563, 572 (722 SE2d 765) (2012) (Hunstein, C. J., concurring); see also State v. Thornton, 253 Ga. 524, 524 (1) (322 SE2d 711) (1984) (directing this Court to transfer “all cases in which either a sentence of death or of life imprisonment has been imposed upon conviction of murder”). Accordingly, this appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 01/18/2019 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.