Henry Arnold v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: February 16, 2021
• Docket: A20A1899
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ January 28, 2021

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A20A1899. HENRY ARNOLD v. THE STATE.

Henry Arnold pleaded guilty to two counts of theft by taking and one count of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The trial court entered judgment on October 18, 2019, and Arnold filed a pro se notice of appeal on October 30. 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, Arnold was represented by counsel at his 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) (“Defense 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, Arnold’s pro se notice of appeal is a legal nullity. See Soberanis v. State, 345 Ga. App. 403, 405 (812 SE2d 800) (2018). For this reason, the appeal is DISMISSED. See id. Because Arnold was represented by counsel before the trial court, he 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 Arnold and to his attorney, and the latter also is DIRECTED to send a copy to Arnold.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 01/28/2021 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.