Georgia Court of Appeals, 2023

Teyon Stover v. State

Teyon Stover v. State
Georgia Court of Appeals · Decided July 20, 2023

Teyon Stover v. State

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ July 20, 2023 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A23A1666. TEYON STOVER v. THE STATE.

In 2006, a jury found Teyon Stover guilty of rape, kidnapping (two counts), child molestation (three counts) and aggravated assault, and the trial court entered a judgment of conviction. This Court affirmed his convictions on appeal. Stover v. State, 293 Ga. App. 210 (666 SE2d 602) (2008). In 2018, Stover filed a motion to vacate void sentence. The trial court granted the motion and resentenced Stover in 2019. Stover subsequently filed a notice of appeal from his amended sentence, but we dismissed the appeal because it was untimely. Case No. A20A0014 (Aug. 16, 2019).1 Then, in January 2023, Stover filed another motion to vacate void sentence, again challenging the 2019 sentence. Finding no legal basis for Stover’s claim, the trial court dismissed the motion. Stover appeals.

“It is axiomatic that the same issue cannot be relitigated ad infinitum.” Echols v. State, 243 Ga. App. 775, 776 (534 SE2d 464) (2000). Given that Stover previously appealed the same amended sentence, this current appeal is barred. See Norris v. Norris, 281 Ga. 566, 567-568 (2) (642 SE2d 34) (2007) (res judicata barred claim that had been raised in a prior appeal which the Court had dismissed as untimely); Paradise v. State, 321 Ga. App. 371, 373 (740 SE2d 238) (2013) (although a void sentence may be challenged at any time, this principle is nevertheless subject to the Stover filed a motion for out-of-time appeal in 2020. The trial court granted the motion, and Stover filed a notice of appeal. However, because Stover had no right to file a motion for out-of-time appeal, see Cook v. State, 313 Ga. 471 (870 SE2d 758) (2022), we vacated the trial court’s order granting the motion and remanded the case for the court to enter a dismissal order. Case No. A22A0862 (Apr. 19, 2022). equally well-established principles of res judicata and the law-of-the-case rule); Ross v. State, 310 Ga. App. 326, 328 (713 SE2d 438) (2011) (while a void sentence is a nullity and may be vacated at any time, it is still subject to res judicata and law-of-the-case rule; a defendant is “not entitled to multiple bites at the apple”).

Because Stover is not entitled to make multiple challenges to the validity of his sentence by direct appeal, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 07/20/2023 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.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.