Fabian Tyrone Taplin, Sr. v. Honoralbe Dwayne H. Gillis

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: May 17, 2017
• Docket: A17A1489
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ May 04, 2017

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A17A1489. FABIAN TYRONE TAPLIN, SR. v. HONORABLE DWAYNE H. GILLIS.

Fabian Tyrone Taplin, Sr., a prison inmate, attempted to file a civil action relating to his petition to change his name. On May 27, 2016, the trial court denied his filing pursuant to OCGA § 9-15-2 (d), concluding that Taplin’s pleadings showed a complete absence of any justiciable law or fact. Taplin then filed this direct appeal on July 13, 2016. We, however, lack jurisdiction for two reasons. First, Taplin’s notice of appeal is untimely, as it was filed 47 days after the May 27 order was entered. See OCGA § 5-6-38 (a) (notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the challenged decision). Second, because Taplin is incarcerated, his appeal is controlled by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, OCGA § 42-12- 1 et seq. Under OCGA § 42-12-8, an appeal of a civil action filed by a prisoner “shall be as provided in Code Section 5-6-35.” And under OCGA § 5-6-35, the party wishing to appeal must file an application for discretionary appeal to the appropriate appellate court. Because a prisoner has no right of direct appeal in civil cases and this appeal is untimely, we lack jurisdiction to consider this direct appeal from the superior court’s order. See Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). This appeal is therefore DISMISSED. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 05/04/2017 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.