Nazario v. State, 293 Ga. 480

Background

William Nazario pled guilty to 17 of 26 indicted counts arising from the beating and stabbing death of his girlfriend Korean Bowden and the abuse/mistreatment of her three daughters; plea was part of a negotiated agreement that dismissed other counts and avoided a life-without-parole sentencing request.
The plea hearing transcript, plea form, indictment, and judgment show Nazario admitted killing Bowden, concealing her body (placing it under clothes and discarding bloody sheets/knife), binding/gagging two children and confining them, and attempting to take a third child out of state.
Trial court accepted the guilty plea and imposed concurrent sentences: life with parole for felony murder, multiple multi-year sentences for aggravated assault/battery/child cruelty, and five 10-year sentences for five separate concealing-a-death convictions.
On direct appeal Nazario argued several convictions and sentences should merge (i.e., were included offenses), but the State contended the guilty plea waived merger claims.
The Georgia Supreme Court rejected a per se waiver rule for merger claims arising from guilty pleas, held that merger claims may be raised on direct appeal because convictions that merge are void, and vacated four of Nazario’s five concealing-a-death convictions (sentences), affirming the rest.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Nazario)	Defendant's Argument (State)	Held
Does entry of a guilty plea waive merger (included-offense) claims on direct appeal?	Guilty plea does not waive merger claims; merged convictions are void and may be attacked on appeal.	Guilty plea waives all defenses including merger; defendant accepted the negotiated sentence and cannot renege.	Plea does not categorically waive merger claims; Curtis and other precedent control — merger claims can be raised on appeal.
Are merger challenges limited when record is confined to plea materials?	Nazario argued multiple convictions (various counts) merged as a matter of fact or law despite limited record.	State argued limited plea record prevents proving factual merger; plea estops defendant from contesting admitted distinct acts.	Merger claims are cognizable but practical success usually fails when limited record cannot establish merger.
Did Nazario’s five concealing-a-death convictions merge into one offense?	All five acts were part of a single course of conduct to hinder discovery of one unlawful killing, so they merge.	State implicitly disputed that separate acts could support separate convictions.	The five concealment counts merged into one conviction; four convictions/sentences vacated.
Do other challenged counts (aggravated assault, child cruelty, etc.) merge with murder/felony-murder or each other?	Nazario contended certain assault and child-cruelty counts merged into murder or into each other.	State pointed to distinct allegations and possible separate acts; limited record precludes factual merger findings.	The record did not show merger for those counts; convictions and sentences for the other counts were affirmed.

Key Cases Cited

Smith v. Hardrick, 266 Ga. 54 (Georgia 1995) (discussed waiver principles in habeas context)
Clark v. Caldwell, 229 Ga. 612 (Georgia 1972) (stating a guilty plea waives known or unknown defenses in habeas context)
Turner v. State, 284 Ga. 494 (Georgia 2008) (held guilty plea waived factual-merger claims — overruled here to extent inconsistent)
Curtis v. State, 275 Ga. 576 (Georgia 2002) (held convictions that are included in others are void and may be vacated even if not raised below)
Williams v. State, 287 Ga. 192 (Georgia 2010) (clarified procedural limits for attacking convictions; reiterated that included-offense claims attack convictions)
Slaughter v. State, 292 Ga. 573 (Georgia 2013) (example of vacating sentence where aggravated assault merged into murder)
Durden v. State, 293 Ga. 89 (Georgia 2013) (vacating sentence for aggravated assault merged into malice murder)
Taylor v. State, 275 Ga. 461 (Georgia 2002) (addressed merger claim on direct appeal from guilty plea)