Thomas Lester v. State

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ March 02, 2022

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A22A0896. THOMAS LESTER v. THE STATE.

A jury found Thomas Lester guilty of aggravated child molestation, aggravated sexual battery, and three counts of child molestation, and his convictions were affirmed on appeal. See Lester v. State, 278 Ga. App. 247 (628 SE2d 674) (2006). In August 2021, Lester filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence, arguing that the trial court improperly considered evidence in support of recidivist sentencing. The trial court denied the motion on December 2, 2021, and Lester filed a notice of appeal on January 7, 2022. We, however, lack jurisdiction.

A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the order sought to be appealed. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). “[A] timely-filed notice of appeal is a jurisdictional prerequisite to a valid appeal.” Henderson v. State, 265 Ga. 317, 317 (1) (454 SE2d 458) (1995). Here, Lester’s notice of appeal was filed 36 days after the order was entered and is thus untimely. Accordingly, we lack jurisdiction to consider this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 03/02/2022

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.