Tony L. Ware v. Pine State Mortgage Corporation

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: August 27, 2018
• Docket: A18A2156
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ August 22, 2018

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A18A2156. TONY L. WARE v. PINE STATE MORTGAGE CORPORATION et al.

In this civil action, plaintiff Tony L. Ware has filed a direct appeal of the trial court’s order recusing, sua sponte, the assigned trial court judge. We lack jurisdiction. Because this action remains pending below, the plaintiff was required to use the interlocutory appeal procedures – including obtaining a certificate of immediate review from the trial court – to appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-34 (b); Boyd v. State, 191 Ga. App. 435 (383 SE2d 906) (1989). “[A] party wishing to appeal a pretrial ruling on a recusal motion has the option to seek an interlocutory appeal or to appeal immediately after an adverse final judgment.” Murphy v. Murphy, 295 Ga. 376, 379 n.3 (761 SE2d 53) (2014); see also Evans v. Williams, 341 Ga. App. 226, 228-229 (2) (799 SE2d 362) (2017) (if a motion to recuse is granted, a party may file an application for interlocutory review of the recusal order, or choose to continue the case under the direction of the newly appointed judge). Further, a recusal ruling is not subject to the collateral order doctrine. See Murphy v. Murphy, 322 Ga. App. 829, 832 (747 SE2d 21) (2013). Accordingly, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 08/22/2018 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.