Genden Perez v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: October 21, 2020
• Docket: A21A0402
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ October 05, 2020

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A21A0402. GENDEN PEREZ v. THE STATE.

Genden Perez pleaded guilty to aggravated assault family violence. The trial court entered her judgment of conviction and sentence on October 21, 2019, and Perez filed a pro se notice of appeal on November 20, 2019. We, however, lack jurisdiction. “A criminal defendant in Georgia does not have the right to represent himself and also be represented by an attorney, and pro se filings by represented parties are therefore unauthorized and without effect.” Tolbert v. Toole, 296 Ga. 357, 363 (3) (767 SE2d 24) (2014) (punctuation omitted). Here, Perez was represented by counsel at her guilty plea hearing. There is nothing in the record indicating that the attorney either withdrew or was relieved from representation. See White v. State, 302 Ga. 315, 318 (2) (806 SE2d 489) (2017) (“[D]efense counsel’s duties toward their clients extend for at least the 30 days after the entry of judgment when a notice of appeal may be filed.”). Under these circumstances, Perez’s pro se notice of appeal is a nullity. See Soberanis v. State, 345 Ga. App. 403, 405 (812 SE2d 800) (2018). For this reason, the appeal is DISMISSED. See id. Because Perez was represented by counsel before the trial court, she is informed of the following in accordance with Rowland v. State, 264 Ga. 872, 875-876 (2) (452 SE2d 756) (1995):

This appeal has been dismissed because your attorney failed to file a proper and timely notice of appeal. If you still wish to appeal, you may petition the trial court for leave to file an out-of-time appeal. If the trial court grants your request, you will have 30 days from the entry of that order to file a notice of appeal referencing your conviction. If the trial court denies your request, you will have 30 days from the entry of that order to file a notice of appeal referencing the denial of your request for an out-of-time appeal.

The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to send a copy of this order to Perez and to her attorney, and the latter also is DIRECTED to send a copy to Perez.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 10/05/2020 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.