Gelester Napoleon Jenkins, Jr. v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: October 23, 2023
• Docket: A22A1422
• Status: Published

Opinion

SECOND DIVISION MILLER, P. J., RICKMAN and PIPKIN, JJ.

NOTICE: Motions for reconsideration must be physically received in our clerk’s office within ten days of the date of decision to be deemed timely filed. https://www.gaappeals.us/rules

October 23, 2023

In the Court of Appeals of Georgia A22A1422. JENKINS v. THE STATE.

MILLER, Presiding Judge.

In January 2018, Gelester Napoleon Jenkins, Jr., was convicted of violating his

oath as a public officer, and he was sentenced to five years, with the first three years

to be served in confinement. Jenkins’ trial counsel filed a timely motion for new trial

and/or to modify his sentence, which the trial court denied on February 2, 2022. After

Jenkins filed a pro se notice of appeal on March 3, 2022, we dismissed this appeal

after concluding that Jenkins was still represented by counsel and that his pro se

notice of appeal was therefore without legal effect. The Supreme Court of Georgia

vacated our judgment and remanded the case, ordering that we reconsider our

decision in light of the recently-issued Johnson v. State, 315 Ga. 876 (885 SE2d 725)

(2023). In Johnson, the Supreme Court of Georgia concluded that a legal filing by a pro

se party who is represented by counsel is not automatically a legal nullity but that a

trial court instead has the inherent discretion to allow “hybrid representation” and to

recognize a pro se filing by a counseled defendant. Johnson, supra, 315 Ga. at 890

(4). In so doing, the Supreme Court overruled its prior precedent upon which this

Court relied to dismiss Jenkins’ appeal. See id. at 889 (3) & n.11. Accordingly, we

remand this case for the trial court to exercise its discretion to determine whether to

allow Jenkins to have hybrid representation and whether to recognize his pro se

notice of appeal. See id. at 892 (5). Upon the trial court’s resolution of the issue,

Jenkins may reinitiate his appeal by timely filing a notice of appeal within 30 days of

the trial court’s order on remand. Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. I, Par. IV.

Case remanded with direction. Rickman and Pipkin, JJ., concur.