James Pitts v. G. Grant Brantley

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: July 8, 2025
• Docket: A25A2122
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ July 08, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25A2122. JAMES PITTS v. G. GRANT BRANTLEY.

In this civil action, the trial court entered an order dismissing plaintiff James Pitts’s complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief on March 5, 2024. On September 24, 2024, the court: (i) denied Pitts’s motion to vacate or set aside the March 2024 order; and (ii) issued a bill of peace requiring pre-filing review of any further submissions by Pitts. On December 5, 2024, the trial court dismissed Pitts’s motion to recuse the trial judge “and all remaining Fulton County Superior Court Judges.” Following a case conference, the court issued a “Case Memorandum” on April 10, 2025, observing that: (i) during the conference, the court did not rule on any matters, and (ii) the case remains closed in light of the court’s prior orders. On April 16, 2025, Pitts filed a notice of appeal, seeking review of the above four filings. We lack jurisdiction. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after entry of the trial court order sought to be appealed. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer appellate jurisdiction on this Court. Perlman v. Perlman, 318 Ga. App. 731, 739 (4) (734 SE2d 560) (2012). While Pitts’s notice of appeal was filed within 30 days of the April 10 “Case Memorandum,” that filing, on its face, contains no new rulings, and therefore provides no basis for appeal. And Pitts’s notice of appeal was untimely filed several months after each of the prior orders he identifies in his notice of appeal, pretermitting whether each would be appealable in its own right. Consequently, this untimely appeal is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 07/08/2025 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.