Dong Nguyen v. State of Georgia

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: February 5, 2014
• Docket: A14A0740
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,__________________ February 05, 2014

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A14A0740. DONG NGUYEN v. STATE OF GEORGIA.

In this in rem forfeiture proceeding, the trial court entered default judgment in favor of the State. Claimants Dong Nguyen and Loan Kim Thi Nguyen moved to set aside the judgment based on improper service by publication. The trial court denied the claimants’ motion, and they filed this direct appeal. We, however, lack jurisdiction. OCGA § 9-11-60 (d) (1) provides that a defendant may file a motion to set aside a judgment based on lack of jurisdiction. To the extent the claimants sought relief under this provision, they were required to follow the discretionary appeal procedures to obtain appellate review of the trial court’s order denying their motion. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (8); Arrowhead Alternator v. CIT Communications Finance Corp., 268 Ga. App. 464, 466 (602 SE2d 231) (2004). Alternatively, to the extent the claimants’ motion may be construed as a motion for reconsideration, the trial court’s order denying their motion would not be subject to appellate review. See Bell v. Cohran, 244 Ga. App. 510, 511 (536 SE2d 187) (2000). For these reasons, we lack jurisdiction to consider this direct appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 02/05/2014 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.