Jordan Usman v. Alex Smith

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: December 25, 2014
• Docket: A15D0172
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ December 24, 2014

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A15D0172. JORDAN USMAN v. ALEX SMITH.

Prison inmate Jordan Usman filed a civil action against his former attorney for fraud and breach of contract. On April 29, 2014, the trial court dismissed the complaint. Usman appealed directly to this Court, but we dismissed the appeal because he failed to follow the discretionary appeal procedure.1 See Case No. A14A2250 (dismissed October 31, 2014). On November 25, 2014, Usman filed this application for discretionary appeal, again seeking review of the April 29 order. An application for discretionary appeal must be filed within 30 days of the entry of the order or judgment to be appealed. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (d). A party’s failure to meet this statutory deadline deprives us of jurisdiction to consider the application. Wilson v. Carver, 252 Ga. App. 174 (555 SE2d 848) (2001). Because Usman filed this application 210 days after entry of the order he wishes to appeal, it is untimely. The application is therefore DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 12/24/2014 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 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.

1 The Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996 requires prisoners to appeal judgments in civil actions by discretionary application. See OCGA § 42-12-8; Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489 (480 SE2d 24) (1997).