Chalis B. Snowden v. Damaris Marshall

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ July 28, 2021

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A21A1803. CHALIS B. SNOWDEN v. DAMARIS MARSHALL.

On April 16, 2021, the trial court entered an order granting Damaris Marshall’s petition for modification of custody. Chalis B. Snowden filed a motion for reconsideration from this ruling. The trial court denied the motion for reconsideration on May 20, 2021, and Snowden filed a notice of appeal on June 1, 2021. We lack jurisdiction. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of the entry of the order sought 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 upon an appellate court.” Perlman v. Perlman, 318 Ga. App. 731, 739 (4) (734 SE2d 560) (2012) (punctuation omitted). Here, Snowden had a right to appeal directly the trial court’s April 2021 order, which modified custody. See OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (11). Instead of filing a notice of appeal from this ruling, Snowden filed a motion for reconsideration. However, the denial of a motion for reconsideration is not directly appealable, and the filing of such a motion does not extend the time for filing an appeal. Bell v. Cohran, 244 Ga. App. 510, 511 (536 SE2d 187) (2000); Savage v. Newsome, 173 Ga. App. 271, 271-272 (326 SE2d 5) (1985). Because Snowden did not file a timely notice of appeal from the trial court’s April 2021 order, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 07/28/2021 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.