Brentrez McPherson v. Tammy Howard

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: March 13, 2020
• Docket: A20A1365
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ March 06, 2020

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A20A1365. BRENTREZ MCPHERSON v. TAMMY HOWARD.

Prisoner Brentrez McPherson filed a petition for writ of mandamus against Tammy Howard, the Douglas County Superior Court Clerk, asserting that the warrant upon which he was arrested in 2012 was illegal. On December 10, 2019, the trial court dismissed McPherson’s petition for writ of mandamus. He filed a direct appeal on January 10, 2020. We lack jurisdiction.

First, while judgments and orders granting or refusing to grant mandamus are generally directly appealable, see OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (7), under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, any appeal in a civil case initiated by a prisoner must come by discretionary application. See OCGA § 42-12-8; Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489, 490 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). Because McPherson is incarcerated, he was required to file an application for discretionary appeal to seek review of the trial court’s order. “Compliance with the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional.” Smoak v. Dept. of Human Res., 221 Ga. App. 257, 257 (471 SE2d 60) (1996). His failure to follow the proper appellate procedure deprives us of jurisdiction over this appeal.

Additionally, even if McPherson had a right of direct appeal, this appeal is untimely. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after the entry of the trial court’s order. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction upon this Court. Couch v. United Paperworkers Intl. Union, 224 Ga. App. 721, 721 (482 SE2d 704) (1997). McPherson untimely filed his notice of appeal 31 days after the trial court entered its order.

For these reasons, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 03/06/2020 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.