Jessy L. Blake v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: June 11, 2025
• Docket: A25D0417
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ June 11, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25D0417. JESSY L. BLAKE v. THE STATE.

In 2021, Jessy L. Blake pleaded guilty to rape. Blake filed a pro se “Motion for Void Sentence/Involuntary Plea/Failure to Arraign.”1 The trial court denied the motion on April 16, 2025, and Blake filed this discretionary application on May 19, 2025. In his application, he contends that the court never arraigned him and thus his conviction should be vacated. We lack jurisdiction. As an initial matter, the application is untimely. An application for discretionary appeal must be filed within 30 days of the entry of the order to be appealed. OCGA § 5-6-35 (d). The requirements of OCGA § 5-6-35 are jurisdictional, and this Court cannot accept an application for appeal not made in compliance therewith. Boyle v. State, 190 Ga. App. 734, 734 (380 SE2d 57) (1989). Blake filed this application 33 days after entry of the trial court’s order. And even if the application had been timely filed, regardless of nomenclature, Blake’s underlying motion seeks to vacate or challenge the validity of his conviction. See State v. Bell, 274 Ga. 719, 719 (1) (559 SE2d 477) (2002) (when a court considers pleadings, substance controls over nomenclature). A motion seeking to challenge an allegedly invalid or void judgment of conviction “is not one of the established procedures for challenging the validity of a judgment in a criminal case,” and an appeal from the denial of such a motion is subject to dismissal. Roberts v. State, 286

1 The motion was not included in the application materials, in violation of Court of Appeals Rule 31 (e). Ga. 532, 532 (690 SE2d 150) (2010). For these reasons, this application is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 06/11/2025 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.