Tariq Williams v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: March 10, 2025
• Docket: A25A1227
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ March 10, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25A1227. TARIQ WILLIAMS v. THE STATE.

On August 21, 2024, Tariq Williams pled guilty to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to eight months in confinement. On February 13, 2025, Williams filed a notice of appeal in which he requests to withdraw his plea. The State has filed a motion to dismiss the appeal on the basis that Williams has not sought to withdraw his plea in the trial court. We lack jurisdiction for two reasons. First, to the extent that Williams seeks to challenge his judgment of conviction and sentence, the appeal is untimely. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the judgment sought to be appealed, OCGA § 5-6-38 (a), and the proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction on this Court. Redford v. State, 357 Ga. App. 247, 250 (850 SE2d 447) (2020). Williams’ notice of appeal was filed 176 days after entry of his judgment of conviction and sentence and was therefore untimely. Second, to the extent that Williams seeks to challenge any ruling denying his request to withdraw his guilty plea, there is no indication that the trial court has made any such ruling. This Court is a court “for the correction of errors of law made by the trial courts, and an error of law has as its basis a specific ruling made by the trial court. In the absence of such a specific ruling, there is nothing for us to review.” North Fulton Community Charities v. Goodstein, 367 Ga. App. 576, 588 n. 7 (2) (887 SE2d 646) (2023). Accordingly, the State’s motion to dismiss this appeal is hereby GRANTED, and this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 03/10/2025 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.