Seals v. State

311 Ga. 739

FINAL COPY S20G0931. SEALS v. THE STATE. PETERSON, Justice. Defendants in criminal cases may take immediate appeals from final judgments, which OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1) defines as when “the case is no longer pending in the court below[.]” In applying this familiar principle, we have often dismissed for lack of jurisdiction appeals in criminal cases because verdicts have been rendered or sentences have been imposed on less than all counts of an indictment or accusation. This case presents the question of whether the same rule applies when one or more counts have been “dead- docketed.”…