Amorwanda Campbell v. Lester Campbell

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ September 19, 2022

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A23D0045. AMORWANDA CAMPBELL v. LESTER CAMPBELL.

On March 7, 2022, nunc pro tunc to February 22, 2022, the trial court entered a divorce decree dissolving the marriage of Amorwanda Campbell (“Wife”) and Lester Campbell. On March 8, 2022, Wife filed a “Motion for Reconsideration/New Trial, Stay Judgment, and to Disqualify and/or Recuse.” On May 3, 2022, Wife filed an application for discretionary appeal from the divorce decree. Nothing in the application materials indicated that the trial court had ruled on Wife’s motion for new trial, and she did not comply with the interlocutory appeal procedures. Accordingly, we dismissed the application as premature. See Case No. A22D0376 (May 24, 2022). Wife has now filed a second application for discretionary appeal seeking review of the divorce decree. As with her previous application, however, nothing in the application materials indicates that the trial court has ruled on her motion for new trial. Under these circumstances, Wife was required to comply with the interlocutory appeal procedures of OCGA § 5-6-34 (b), including obtaining a certificate of immediate review from the trial court, in order to appeal the divorce decree. See Cooper v. Spotts, 309 Ga. App. 361, 363 (1) (appeal filed “while a motion for new trial is pending, and unaccompanied by a proper certificate of immediate review, confers no jurisdiction in the appellate court and results in a dismissal of the appeal”) (citation and punctuation omitted). Wife’s failure to comply with the interlocutory appeal procedures deprives us of jurisdiction to consider this discretionary application, which is hereby DISMISSED. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 09/19/2022 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.