Chad Hargreaves v. Debra Mathis

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: June 4, 2018
• Docket: A18A1501
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ May 23, 2018

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A18A1501. CHAD HARGREAVES v. DEBRA MATHIS.

Chad Hargreaves, a prisoner serving a life sentence for aggravated sodomy, aggravated child molestation, and child molestation, has filed this direct appeal of the trial court’s order dismissing his civil complaint.1 We, however, lack jurisdiction. Because Hargreaves is incarcerated, his appeal is controlled by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, OCGA § 42-12-1 et seq. Under OCGA § 42-12-8, an appeal of a civil action filed by a prisoner “shall be as provided in Code Section 5-6-35.” And under OCGA § 5-6-35 (b), the party wishing to appeal must file an application for discretionary review to the appropriate appellate court. Because a prisoner has no right of direct appeal in civil cases, we lack jurisdiction to consider Hargreaves’s direct appeal. 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,____________________ 05/23/2018 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.

1 Hargreaves’s appeal of his convictions is currently pending. See Case No. A18A1081.