Cara Williams v. Aleathia Wallace

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: July 4, 2017
• Docket: A17A1825
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ June 29, 2017

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A17A1825. CARA WILLIAMS v. ALEATHIA WALLACE.

While a prison inmate, Cara Williams filed this civil action against Aleathia Wallace. Wallace filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim. The trial court granted the motion, and Williams filed this direct appeal. We lack jurisdiction. Because Williams was incarcerated when she initiated this action, her appeal is controlled by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996. OCGA § 42-12-1 et seq. OCGA § 42-12-8 requires that an appeal of a civil action filed by a prisoner “shall be as provided in Code Section 5-6-35.” Under OCGA § 5-6-35 (b), the party wishing to appeal must file an application for discretionary appeal with the appropriate appellate court. Because a prisoner has no right of direct appeal in civil cases, we lack jurisdiction to consider a direct appeal from the trial court’s order. See Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489, 490 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). Accordingly, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 06/29/2017 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.