549 S.E.2d 402 | Ga. | 2001
While a pedestrian on a McDuffie County road, Kyle Conrad White III was struck and killed by a van driven by appellant Matthew David Schramm. Schramm was convicted of malice murder in connection with White’s death, as well as the aggravated assault of Charles William Odum, who was walking with White.
Odum testified he and White saw the van driven by appellant coming at them and that it accelerated as it left the road and bore down on them, causing Odum to believe they were going to die. When the van struck the victim, his head cracked the windshield and his
Judgment affirmed.
The incident occurred on August 8, 1998, and appellant was indicted on August 30, 1999. His trial took place September 22-23,1999, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment on September 23. A motion for new trial,, filed October 21, 1999, and amended January 9, 2001, was denied on March 30, 2001. Appellant’s premature notice of appeal, filed on November 17, 2000, while the motion for new trial was pending, ripened upon the filing of the trial court’s order denying the amended motion for new trial. Betha v. State, 208 Ga. App. 802, 803 (432 SE2d 242) (1993). See also McCulley v. State, 273 Ga. 40, 43, n. 3 (537 SE2d 340) (2000). The appeal was docketed in this Court on May 4, 2001, and submitted for decision on the briefs.