Strozier v. State
Strozier v. State
Opinion of the Court
*362A jury found Johnathan Anthony and Jekari Strozier guilty of a variety of crimes, including felony murder. On appeal, we held that "the trial court properly convicted [the] appellants of felony murder predicated upon unlawful participation in criminal gang activity through the commission of a simple battery [Count 4]." (Citation omitted.) Anthony v. State ,
[o]n the facts presented in this case, the offenses of unlawful participation in criminal gang activity through the commission of an aggravated assault [Count 12] and unlawful participation in criminal gang activity through the commission of an aggravated battery [Count 13] merge with the offense of unlawful participation in criminal gang activity through the commission of a simple battery [Count 10], which formed the basis for - and properly was merged into - the felony murder of which the appellants were convicted and sentenced.
Instead, upon the return of the remittiturs, the trial court, at the urging of the prosecutor, entered an "Amended Sentence Pursuant to Supreme Court Decision" for each defendant. The court sentenced Strozier and Anthony to life imprisonment for felony murder predicated on aggravated battery (Count 3, one of the felony murder convictions that had been vacated by operation of law) and to 15 years imprisonment for criminal gang activity (Count 13, aggravated battery, one of the predicate offenses that we held had merged into Count 10, which, in turn, had been merged into Count 4.) The trial court directed a verdict of not guilty on Count 11 and noted that the remaining counts either merged or had been vacated. The appellants contend, and the State concedes, that the trial court's resentencing orders violate the law of the case rule.
Georgia's statutory law of the case rule provides that holdings of the Supreme Court in a case shall be binding in all subsequent proceedings in that case in the lower court. OCGA § 9-11-60 (h). It is well established that this rule applies to our holdings in criminal cases. See, e.g., McDonald v. State ,
Judgments vacated.
All the Justices concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STROZIER v. The STATE. Anthony v. The State.
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published