Sharyl A. Sutton-Troiani v. Terry L. Mueller

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: July 31, 2025
• Docket: A25A2064
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ July 31, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25A2064. SHARYL A. SUTTON-TROIANI v. TERRY L. MUELLER. A25A2065. AVA L. MUELLER v. TERRY L. MUELLER. A25A2066. CHARLES D. TROIANI v. TERRY L. MUELLER.

Plaintiffs Sharyl Sutton-Troiani, Ava Mueller, and Charles Troiani filed a petition for contempt and request to amend visitation against Terry Mueller. The trial court dismissed the petition on May 7, 2025. The plaintiffs filed a motion for reconsideration, which the court denied on May 22. Sutton-Troiani and Ava Mueller filed notices of appeal on June 13 and Troiani filed a notice of appeal on June 16. We, however, lack jurisdiction. Pretermitting whether these appeals must be brought by discretionary application, as Terry Mueller contends in his motions to dismiss these appeals, the appeals are untimely. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the judgment or trial court order sought to be appealed. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer appellate jurisdiction on this Court. Perlman v. Perlman, 318 Ga. App. 731, 739 (4) (734 SE2d 560) (2012). A motion for reconsideration does not extend the time to file an appellate challenge to an appealable order, and the denial of a motion for reconsideration is not appealable in its own right. See Bell v. Cohran, 244 Ga. App. 510, 510-511 (536 SE2d 187) (2000); Savage v. Newsome, 173 Ga. App. 271, 271 (326 SE2d 5) (1985). Consequently, the trial court’s May 22 order is not appealable, and the plaintiffs notices of appeals are untimely as to the May 7 order. See OCGA § 5-6-38 (a); Bell, 244 Ga. App. at 510-511; Savage, 173 Ga. App. at 271. For these reasons, these appeals are hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 07/31/2025 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.