Eli Barojas-Ramirez v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: November 27, 2018
• Docket: A19A0331
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ November 27, 2018

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A19A0331. ELI BAROJAS-RAMIREZ v. THE STATE.

Eli Barojas-Ramirez, defendant in the criminal case below, has filed a notice of direct appeal from the trial court’s order disqualifying his counsel. We lack jurisdiction. An order disqualifying counsel is an interlocutory order. See Cherry v. Coast House, Ltd., 257 Ga. 403, 404 (2) (359 SE2d 904) (1987); Ewing Holding Corp. v. Egan-Stanley Investments, 154 Ga. App. 493, 495-496 (1) (268 SE2d 733) (1980). Thus, in order to obtain appellate review, Barojas-Ramirez was required to follow the interlocutory appeal procedure set forth in OCGA § 5-6-34 (b). In his notice of appeal, Barojas-Ramirez suggests that the disqualification order should be treated as a collateral order subject to direct appeal. See Bradberry v. State, 315 Ga. App. 434, 436 (727 SE2d 208) (2012). We, however, decline to do so. See Flanagan v. United States, 465 U.S. 259, 270 (III) (104 SCt 1051, 79 LE2d 288) (1984) (“Nothing about a [counsel] disqualification order distinguishes it from the run of pretrial [judicial] decisions that affect the rights of criminal defendants yet must await completion of trial court proceedings for review.”). Because Barojas-Ramirez has failed to follow the required appellate procedure, his appeal is hereby DISMISSED. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 11/27/2018 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.