The Casher Group, Inc. v. Diaz Investments, Inc.

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: January 25, 2016
• Docket: A16A0103
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ January 15, 2016

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A16A0103. THE CASHER GROUP, INC. v. DIAZ INVESTMENTS, INC.

This case originated as a dispossessory proceeding in magistrate court. Following an adverse ruling, defendant The Casher Group, Inc. filed a notice of appeal to the superior court. The superior court entered its final order on July 14, 2015, in which it granted summary judgment to Diaz Investments, Inc. and awarded damages and attorneys’ fees. The Casher Group, Inc., represented by Attorney Grady Roberts, filed its notice of appeal on July 28, 2015. We lack jurisdiction for two reasons. Because the order at issue disposes of a de novo appeal from a magistrate court decision, The Casher Group was required to follow the discretionary appeal procedures to obtain review before this Court. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (1); English v. Delbridge, 216 Ga. App. 366, 367 (454 SE2d 175) (1995). The failure to do so deprives us of jurisdiction over this appeal. The Casher Group filed an application for discretionary review from the magistrate court’s order entering a writ of possession. However, we dismissed the application for lack of jurisdiction because it improperly sought review of a magistrate court order by this Court and was untimely. See Case No. A15D0107, dismissed November 20, 2014. In that order, we explained that OCGA § 44-7-56 governs dispossessory actions and requires that an appeal from a dispossessory ruling be filed within seven days of the date judgment was entered. Nonetheless, the notice of appeal in the instant action was filed 14 days after the trial court’s order. Therefore, the appeal is untimely. For these reasons, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction. Pursuant to Court of Appeals Rule 15, this Court may penalize a party or an attorney for filing an application for discretionary appeal that is determined to be frivolous. Because Grady Roberts has ignored established Georgia law and this Court’s repeated instruction that an appeal from a dispossessory judgment must be filed within seven days of the date the judgment was entered, we hereby impose a penalty of $2,500 for filing this frivolous application. This penalty is imposed against attorney Grady Roberts, not against applicant The Casher Group, Inc.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 01/15/2016 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.