Thompson v. State

Supreme Court of Georgia

Decided February 11, 2002

Supreme Court of Georgia · decided 2002-02-11

Cited by 11 later decisions — most recently August 2016

9 state decisions

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“Looking at the substance of the motion rather than its nomenclature, the filing was actually a motion to withdraw a guilty plea. His motion is thus untimely because it was filed after the term of court in which the plea was entered. Since [Whitley’s] only remedy for challenging his guilty plea is through the writ of habeas corpus, the trial court did not err by [denying] his motion. 2”

quoted by 1 later decision, including Whitley v. State

Relies on Downs v. State · Gipson v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 2002-02-11

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Hunstein, Justice.

¶1 Tony Thompson pled guilty to two counts of murder, among other charges, and was sentenced to life without parole in March 1998. In May 2001 Thompson filed a pro se “Motion to Void Conviction and Sentence pursuant to OCGA § 17-9-4 and Art. VI Supremacy Clause.” Looking at the substance of the motion rather than its nomenclature, the filing was actually a motion to withdraw a guilty plea. His motion is thus untimely because it was filed after the term of court in which the plea was entered. Downs v. State, 270 Ga. 310 (509 SE2d 40) (1998); see also Gipson v. State, 269 Ga. 26 (494 SE2d 669) (1998). Since Thompson’s only remedy for challenging his guilty plea is through the writ of habeas corpus, the trial court did not err by dismissing his motion.

¶2 Judgment affirmed.

All the Justices concur. *819 Richard E. Currie, District Attorney, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, for appellee.