Full Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ October 09, 2026 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A26A1693. MAURICE STEVENS v. THE STATE. Following his 2022 convictions for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana, and obstruction of an officer, Maurice Stevens filed a timely motion for new trial, which the trial court denied. Stevens thereafter filed a timely notice of appeal, which has been docketed with this Court. Stevens’s appellate counsel, Marilyn Tyler, then filed a brief on his behalf on April 13, 2026. On August 17, 2026, Cynthia Wright Harrison, the managing appellate attorney for the Georgia Public Defender Council, filed a motion asking this Court to remand this case to ensure that Stevens has received effective appellate representation. Harrison represents in her motion that the Georgia Supreme Court has determined that all the briefs submitted by Ms. Tyler to that court were “substantially deficient” and, as a result of the deficiencies, the Supreme Court has “remanded each of her cases to the appropriate superior court” so that it could be determined whether new appellate counsel should be appointed. We have reviewed the brief submitted by Ms. Tyler in this case and it also appears to be substantially deficient and well below the expectations this Court has for the attorneys practicing before it. See Court of Appeals Rule 25. Because this is Stevens’s first appeal of right, he is constitutionally entitled to the effective representation of counsel. See Hall v. Jackson, 310 Ga. 714, 720(2)(a) (854 SE2d 539) (2021). Separately, this Court must decide this case within the constraints of our State Constitution’s two-term rule. See Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. IX, Par. II. Given Stevens’s right to counsel and this Court’s obligations under our two-term rule, we hereby REMAND the case to the trial court for that court to expeditiously determine whether Stevens wants to retain new counsel for the purposes of appeal, to be appointed new counsel if he is indigent, or to proceed pro se (after a proper waiver of counsel). After the trial court has made this determination, the trial court clerk is hereby DIRECTED to transmit this order along with any related additional record to this Court, which will then re-docket Stevens’s appeal with a new case number. The trial court clerk is also hereby DIRECTED to send a copy of this order to Stevens. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 10/09/2026 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written. , Clerk.