Bernard Williams v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: November 3, 2025
• Docket: A26D0133
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ November 03, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A26D0133. BERNARD WILLIAMS v. THE STATE.

In 2009, Bernard Williams was convicted of burglary, and this Court affirmed his conviction on appeal. Williams v. State, Case No. A13A0987 (September 17, 2013). On August 4, 2025, the trial court entered an order dismissing Williams’s extraordinary motion for a new trial on the grounds that it represented his second such motion. See OCGA § 5-5-41 (b) (providing that only one extraordinary motion for a new trial “shall be made or allowed” by a party); Ballard v. State, 321 Ga. 352, 355 (2) (914 SE2d 793) (2025) (“because [defendant] was permitted to file only one extraordinary motion for new trial, the trial court properly dismissed his subsequent extraordinary motion for new trial as impermissibly successive”). On September 9, 2025, Williams mailed to this Court an application for discretionary appeal, seeking review of the trial court’s order. Williams’s filing was thereafter postmarked October 3, 2025. We lack jurisdiction to consider this application. A discretionary application must be filed within 30 days of the entry of the order, decision, or judgment sought to be appealed. OCGA § 5-6-35 (d). This statutory deadline is jurisdictional, and this Court cannot accept an application for appeal not made in compliance with the relevant statute. See In the Interest of B. R. F., 299 Ga. 294, 298 (788 SE2d 416) (2016) (holding that an appellate court lacks jurisdiction over an untimely application for discretionary appeal). Here, to be timely, Williams’s application needed to be filed no later than September 3, 2025. Thus, even if we applied the mailbox rule and found that Williams filed his application on September 9, 2025, that filing is untimely. Accordingly, we lack jurisdiction to consider Williams’s application, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 11/03/2025 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.