Robert Frank Smith v. Gregory Dozier

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: March 13, 2020
• Docket: A20A1040
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ March 05, 2020

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A20A1040. ROBERT FRANK SMITH v. GREGORY DOZIER et al.

On July 18, 2019, the trial court entered an order denying the filing of a civil action by prisoner Robert Frank Smith. Smith filed an application for discretionary review of the trial court’s order, which this Court denied. See Case No. A20D0074 (denied Oct. 3, 2019). Smith also filed the instant direct appeal of the trial court’s order. Our denial of Smith’s discretionary application was a decision on the merits, and the doctrine of res judicata bars any subsequent appeals from the same trial court order. See Northwest Social & Civic Club v. Franklin, 276 Ga. 859, 860 (583 SE2d 858) (2003); Hook v. Bergen, 286 Ga. App. 258, 261 (1) (649 SE2d 313) (2007). In addition, under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, any appeal in a civil case that was initiated by a prisoner must come by discretionary application. See OCGA § 42-12-8; Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489, 490 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). Because Smith is incarcerated, he was required to file an application for discretionary appeal in order to appeal the trial court order. See Brock v. Hardman, 303 Ga. 729, 731 (2) (814 SE2d 736) (2018). Accordingly, we lack jurisdiction over this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 03/05/2020 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.