Reginald Spearman v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: September 6, 2023
• Docket: A24I0014
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ September 06, 2023

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A24I0014. REGINALD SPEARMAN v. THE STATE.

Reginald Spearman was arrested in February 2023 on charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and a window-tint violation. On May 25, 2023, the trial court entered an order granting Spearman pretrial bond in the amount of $25,000. Arguing that bond in such a high amount violates his constitutional rights, Spearman filed an application seeking interlocutory review of the trial court’s order.1 We, however, lack jurisdiction. As Spearman’s application recognizes, an order denying pretrial bond is interlocutory in nature. Mullinax v. State, 271 Ga. 112 (1) (515 SE2d 839) (1999). What Spearman fails to recognize, however, is that he was required to follow the interlocutory appeal procedures and obtain a certificate of immediate review from the trial court before filing his application. See OCGA § 5-6-34 (b); Duke v. State, 306 Ga. 171, 172 (1) (829 SE2d 348) (2019). Spearman’s failure to obtain a certificate of immediate review deprives us of jurisdiction to consider this application. See Duke, 306 Ga. at 172 (1) (“The jurisdiction of an appellate court to consider an appeal depends upon whether the appeal is taken in substantial compliance with the rules of appellate procedure prescribing the conditions under which the judgment of the trial court may be considered appealable.”) (Punctuation omitted.) Accordingly, this

1 Spearman filed a “Writ of Certiorari” in the Georgia Supreme Court, which docketed his filing as an application for interlocutory review and transferred the case to this Court. See Case No. S23I1073 (July 26, 2023). application is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 09/06/2023 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.