Chadrus L. Brown v. State

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ October 13, 2021

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A22A0161. CHADRUS L. BROWN v. THE STATE.

Chadrus L. Brown pled guilty to one count of forgery in February 2000. He subsequently filed a “demand for void judgment,” claiming that the judgment is void because the Superior Court of Cobb County lacked jurisdiction over the proceeding. The trial court denied the motion, and Brown filed this appeal. The State has filed a motion to dismiss this appeal, and we agree that we lack jurisdiction. First, a post-conviction motion seeking to vacate an allegedly void conviction is not a valid procedure in a criminal case, and any appeal from the denial or dismissal of such a motion must be dismissed. See Williams v. State, 287 Ga. 192, 192 (695 SE2d 244) (2010); Roberts v. State, 286 Ga. 532, 532 (690 SE2d 150) (2010). Second, Brown’s notice of appeal is untimely. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after entry of the order to be appealed. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction on this Court. Rowland v. State, 264 Ga. 872, 872 (1) (452 SE2d 756) (1995). Here, the trial court entered its order denying Brown’s motion on March 5, 2021, and Brown filed his notice of appeal on May 3, 2021, which was 59 days later. For these reasons, we lack jurisdiction to consider Brown’s appeal. The State’s motion to dismiss is GRANTED, and the appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 10/13/2021 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.