Allen P. Golden v. Vicky L. Haidek

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: August 3, 2023
• Docket: A23A1643
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ August 03, 2023

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A23A1643. ALLEN P. GOLDEN v. VICKY L. HAIDEK.

The magistrate court entered a dispossessory judgment in favor of Vicky L. Haidek and against Allen P. Golden. Golden appealed to the superior court. The superior court also entered a judgment in favor of Haidek. Golden filed a notice of appeal. The superior court ordered Golden to post a supersedeas bond in the amount of $10,000. Golden then filed both an application for discretionary appeal and a notice of appeal from that order. We denied Golden’s discretionary application. See Case No. A22D0046 (Sept. 9, 2022). This Court’s denial of Golden’s discretionary application constitutes a decision on the merits. See Elrod v. Sunflower Meadows Dev., LLC, 322 Ga. App. 666, 670 (4) (745 SE2d 846) (2013) (“[W]hen this Court examines a request for a discretionary appeal, it acts in an error-correcting mode such that a denial of the application is on the merits, and the order denying the application is res judicata with respect to the substance of the requested review.”) (punctuation omitted). Thus, Golden’s direct appeal from the same order is barred. See Northwest Social & Civic Club v. Franklin, 276 Ga. 859, 860 (583 SE2d 858) (2003). Moreover, Golden is not entitled to directly appeal the underlying dispossessory order. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (1), (b); Bullock v. Sand, 260 Ga. App. 874, 875 (581 SE2d 333) (2003) (appeals from superior court decisions reviewing lower court decisions by certiorari or de novo proceedings must be initiated by filing an application for discretionary appeal).1

1 Although the language in this code section has been modified, effective July 1, 2023, the language cited here is the version that applies to this case as all the We therefore lack jurisdiction, and this direct appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 08/03/2023 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.

relevant actions happened before July 1, 2023. See Ga. L. 2023, p. 728, § 5 (providing, in part, that the amendment to OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (1) applies to petitions for review filed in superior or state court on or after July 1, 2023).