Reginald Carter v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: April 2, 2013
• Docket: A13A1297
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,__________________ April 02, 2013

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A13A1297. REGINALD CARTER v. THE STATE.

In March 2011, Reginald Carter pled guilty to armed robbery and aggravated assault. In November 2011, he moved to withdraw the guilty plea. In March 2012, he filed a notice of appeal indicating his wish to appeal to the Supreme Court from the decision “filed on March 8, 2011” – i.e., the judgment of conviction and sentence. In December 2012, the trial court dismissed Carter’s motion to withdraw the guilty plea. The record was subsequently transmitted to the Supreme Court for appeal. The Supreme Court, however, transferred the appeal here upon finding that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after entry of an appealable order. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction on this Court. Rocha v. State, 287 Ga. App. 446 (1) (a) (651 SE2d 781) (2007). Because Carter’s notice of appeal was filed approximately one year after entry of the order that he wishes to appeal, it is untimely.1 This appeal is therefore DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

1 We cannot construe the notice of appeal as a premature notice of Carter’s wish to appeal the December 2012 order dismissing his motion to withdraw his guilty plea because the notice of appeal does not refer to the dismissal order. See Southwest Health & Wellness, LLC v. Work, 282 Ga. App. 619, 622 (1) (a) (639 SE2d 570) (2006) (jurisdiction is determined based on appealability of order specified in notice of appeal). Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 04/02/2013 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.