Doney Preston Mathis v. Tony Howerton, Warden

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: September 29, 2025
• Docket: A26A0463
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ September 29, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A26A0463. DONEY PRESTON MATHIS v. TONY HOWERTON, WARDEN.

On November 12, 2021, the trial court issued an order denying Doney Preston Mathis’s “Nunc Pro Tunc Amendment.” On December 17, 2021, Mathis filed a notice of appeal.1 We lack jurisdiction because, pretermitting whether the trial court’s order is directly appealable, the appeal is untimely. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the order to be appealed, OCGA § 5-6-38 (a), and the proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction on this Court. Redford v. State, 357 Ga. App. 247, 250 (850 SE2d 447) (2020). Mathis’s notice of appeal was filed 35 days after entry of the trial court’s order and is therefore untimely. Accordingly, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 09/29/2025 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 Mathis directed his appeal to the Supreme Court of Georgia, which transferred it here. Case No. S23H1035 (Feb. 6, 2024).