Joe W. Peterson v. Dennis Zimmerman

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: July 19, 2017
• Docket: A17A1909
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ July 14, 2017

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A17A1909. JOE W. PETERSON v. DENNIS ZIMMERMAN et al.

Inmate Joe W. Peterson filed a false imprisonment claim against 12 defendants, including Dennis Zimmerman. On December 15, 2016, the trial court entered an order dismissing Zimmerman and two other defendants. Peterson filed this direct appeal. We lack jurisdiction for two reasons. First, because Peterson is incarcerated, his appeal is controlled by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, OCGA § 42-12-1 et seq. Under OCGA § 42-12-8, an appeal of a civil action filed by a prisoner “shall be as provided in Code Section 5-6- 35[,]” which requires that the party wishing to appeal file an application for discretionary appeal. Second, it appears the case is not final as Peterson’s claims against the other defendants remain pending in the trial court. “In a case involving multiple parties or multiple claims, a decision adjudicating fewer than all the claims or the rights and liabilities of less than all the parties is not a final judgment.” (Punctuation and citation omitted.) Johnson v. Hosp. Corp. of America, 192 Ga. App. 628, 629 (385 SE2d 731) (1989). As the order Peterson seeks to appeal is not final, he was required to comply with the interlocutory appeal procedures set forth in OCGA § 5-6-34 (b) in order to appeal. See id. For these reasons, we lack jurisdiction over this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 07/14/2017 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.