Stephon Clemons v. State

── Stephon Clemons v. State ── Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia Date: May 18, 2026 Category: General THIRD DIVISION DILLARD, P. J., GOBEIL and PIPKIN, JJ. NOTICE: Motions for reconsideration must be physically received in our clerk’s office within ten days of the date of decision to be deemed timely filed. https://www.gaappeals.gov/rules May 18, 2026 In the Court of Appeals of Georgia A26A0437. CLEMONS v. THE STATE. PIPKIN, Judge. This is the second appearance of this case before this Court. In Clemons v. State, 375 Ga. App. 232 (915 SE2d 689) (2025), we reversed the trial court’s order denying Appellant Stephon Bernard Clemons’s pro se motion to withdraw his June 2024 non- negotiated guilty pleas to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against Jonathan Fortner and other crimes because Appellant lacked counsel at the hearing on his motion and the record did not contain a proper waiver of his right to counsel. See id. at 232-33(1). On remand, after a hearing at which Appellant was represented by newly appointed counsel, the trial court again denied Appellant’s motion. We affirm.  1. According to the factual basis presented by the State at the June 2024 plea hearing, on April 14, 2023, Appellant, a convicted felon, broke into the back of Fortner’s 18-wheel tractor-trailer at a rest area off Interstate 20 in Morgan County. Fortner, who had been asleep, awoke and went to the back to see what was going on. After a heated confrontation, Appellant retrieved a handgun from his van and pointed it at Fortner, prompting Fortner to “let him go.” Appellant then fled the scene. The following month, Fortner identified Appellant as his assailant in a photographic lineup. Appellant was arrested a month later, and when he was interviewed, he was “cooperative and admitted, for the most part, his participation and certainly his identity as the person doing it.” On September 8, 2023, a Morgan County grand jury indicted Appellant for aggravated assault, entering a motor vehicle with intent to commit a theft, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. On October 31, 2023, attorney David W. Bass filed an entry of appearance as retained counsel for Appellant. On the same day, Bass filed a motion for bond, which the trial court granted on November 8, 2023. 2  At a calendar call on January 22, 2024, after Appellant changed his mind about accepting an early plea offer, the State filed a notice of intent to introduce evidence of nine prior convictions in aggravation of punishment pursuant to OCGA § 17-10- 7(a) and (c).1 The following month, Appellant violated the conditions of his bond, which the trial court revoked on April 15, 2024. On June 12, 2024, the court held a plea hearing at which Appellant entered non-negotiated guilty pleas to all four charges.2 At the plea hearing, Appellant testified that he understood all the rights that he was waiving by pleading guilty; that he and Bass “came to the conclusion that it would be best not to go to trial with these circumstances, with my record and things of that nature”; and that although he did not want to plead guilty to the two firearm- 1 OCGA § 17-10-7(a) provides that a convicted felon who is convicted of another felony “shall be sentenced to undergo the longest period of time [statutorily] prescribed for the punishment of the subsequent [felony].” See Langley v. State, 313 Ga. 141, 147-48(2) (868 SE2d 759) (2022) (discussing OCGA § 17-10-7(a)). OCGA § 17-10-7(c) makes “fourth-time felony offenders” ineligible for parole. Kimbrough v. State, 300 Ga. 516, 517(2) (796 SE2d 694) (2017). 2 Appellant entered his guilty pleas to the two firearm-possession counts pursuant to North Caroli