Charles Anthony Willis v. State

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

June 06, 2012 ATLANTA,_________________

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A12D0377. CHARLES ANTHONY W ILLIS v. THE STATE.

On October 18, 2011, Charles Anthony Willis filed a motion in arrest of judgment in which he challenged the validity of his 2002 armed robbery conviction. The trial court denied the motion on January 26, 2012, and Willis filed an application for discretionary review of the order on May 7, 2012. We lack jurisdiction. In accordance with Lay v. State, 289 Ga. 210 (710 SE2d 141) (2011), the denial of an untimely motion in arrest of judgment is directly appealable. Ordinarily, when a party applies for discretionary review of a directly appealable order, we grant the application under OCGA § 5-6-35 (j). To fall within this general rule, however, the application must be filed within 30 days of entry of the order or judgment to be appealed. OCGA § 5-6-35 (d); Hill v State, 204 Ga App 582 (420 SE2d 393) (1992). Willis filed his application 102 days after the trial court entered its order. Accordingly, we lack jurisdiction to consider the application, which is hereby DISMISSED as untimely.1

1 Willis filed a motion for reconsideration of the trial court’s order on February 21, 2012. Willis has not included in his application materials the court’s ruling on his motion, but in any event, the denial of a motion for reconsideration is not directly appealable. Bell v. Cohran, 244 Ga. App. 510, 511 (536 SE2d 187) (2000). And the filing of such a motion does not extend the time for appealing the underlying judgment. See id. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 06/06/2012 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,_________________ 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.