The State v. Andrade

768 S.E.2d 525, 330 Ga. App. 549

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: February 5, 2015
• Docket: A15A0092
• Status: Published

Opinion

Miller, Judge.

On June 6, 2014, the trial court entered an order granting Aram Andrade’s motion to suppress his incriminating statements on the basis that the statements were involuntary. The State filed a notice of appeal of this order on June 23, 2014. However, pursuant to a recent amendment to OCGA § 5-7-1 (a) (5) (A), which became effective on July 1, 2013, the State was required to file its notice of appeal within two days of the trial court’s ruling.* 1 The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction on this Court. See Couch v. United Paperworkers Intl. Union, 224 Ga. App. 721 (482 SE2d 704) (1997). Because the State’s notice of appeal was untimely filed 17 days after entry of the trial court’s order, we lack jurisdiction. Accordingly, this appeal is dismissed.

Appeal dismissed.

Andrews, P. J., and Branch, J., concur.

1 The two-day requirement does not apply to pretrial orders excluding evidence on the basis that it was illegally seized, nor orders excluding the results of drug or alcohol tests. See OCGA § 5-7-1 (a) (4). Here, however, the appeal excludes “other evidence” and, therefore, comes within the ambit of OCGA § 5-7-1 (a) (5).