Derrick Dameco Blassingame v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: May 19, 2026
• Docket: A26A0371
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ May 19, 2026

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A26A0371. BLASSINGAME v. STATE.

Appellant Derrick Dameco Blassingame, who acted pro se below, appeals his convictions for two counts of simple assault, see OCGA § 16-5-20. However, according to both Blassingame and the State, the record that has been transmitted to this Court is incomplete, and this case should be remanded to the trial court for the completion of the record. We agree. As we have explained before,

OCGA § 5-6-48(d) provides that at any stage of the proceeding, even after oral argument, this Court “shall” order the trial court to complete the record on appeal, and even order that portions of or even a complete transcript of the evidence and proceedings be prepared and sent up. It also states that this Court shall “take any other action to perfect the appeal and record so that the appellate court can and will pass upon the appeal and not dismiss it.”

Galardi v. Steele-Inman, 259 Ga. App. 249, 249 (576 SE2d 555) (2002). At the very least, it is clear that the trial court conducted a hearing in October 2024 to address Blassingame’s desire to represent himself during the relevant proceedings in this case but that, while the October 2024 hearing was taken down and has been transcribed, this transcript has not been made part of the record or transmitted to this Court. Moreover, it appears that there may be various trial exhibits that are still missing; not only are these exhibits not available for this Court to review, but it appears that these missing exhibits may also hamper Blassingame in his effort to prepare and present his appeal. Accordingly, we remove this case from the appeal docket and remand the case to the trial court for completion of the record without delay; on remand, the trial court is authorized, but not required, to conduct any additional proceedings to aid in the completion of the record in this case. Once the relevant transcript and exhibits are on file with the trial court and the trial court enters an order stating that the record is complete or that it cannot be completed, Blassingame shall have 30 days to refile his notice of appeal. Upon the filing of such notice of appeal, the case with the completed record and transcripts shall be transmitted to this Court for redocketing. See Galardi, 259 Ga. App. at 249.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 05/19/2026 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.