Aaron L. Johnson v. Wilcox State Prison

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: August 13, 2018
• Docket: A18A2093
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ August 07, 2018

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A18A2093. AARON L. JOHNSON v. WILCOX STATE PRISON et al.

Aaron L. Johnson, a prison inmate, filed a civil action against the Wilcox State Prison, et al., alleging that the defendants were negligent in failing to detect his throat cancer. The trial court dismissed the complaint, and Johnson filed this direct appeal. We, however, lack jurisdiction. Because Johnson is incarcerated, his appeal is controlled by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, OCGA § 42-12-1 et seq. Under OCGA § 42-12-8, an appeal of a civil action filed by a prisoner “shall be as provided in Code Section 5-6-35.” And under OCGA § 5-6-35, the party wishing to appeal must file an application for discretionary appeal to the appropriate appellate court. Because a prisoner has no right of direct appeal in civil cases, we lack jurisdiction to consider this direct appeal from the superior court’s order. See Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). This appeal is therefore DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 08/07/2018 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.