Court of Appeals

of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A15D0295. EDDIE AMOAKUH v. FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE

ASSOCIATION.

Eddie Amoakuh, through attorney Grady Roberts, has filed a second

application for discretionary appeal seeking review of an order entered by the

Magistrate Court of Fulton County in this dispossessory action. Amoakuh’s first

application sought review of a magistrate court order, and we transferred that case to

state court. Amoakuh v. Federal National Mortgage Assn., Case No. A15D0278

(transferred Feb. 18, 2015). We have repeatedly informed Grady Roberts that this

Court may only review magistrate court matters that already have been reviewed by

the state or superior court. See Handler v. Hulsey, 199 Ga. App. 751 (406 SE2d 225)

(1991); Westwind Corp. v. Washington Federal Savings & Loan Assn., 195 Ga. App.

411 (1) (393 SE2d 479) (1990). And we have repeatedly transferred such casesto the

appropriate state court, noting in our orders that “[t]he only avenue of appeal

available from [a] magistrate court judgment is provided by OCGA § 15-10-41 (b)

(1), which allows for a de novo appeal to the state or superior court.” Handler, supra.

Nevertheless, Grady Roberts has chosen to ignore this Court’s orders and has, yet

again, filed an application for discretionary appeal from a magistrate court order.1

1 We note that this application is untimely because appeals from a

dispossessory judgment must be filed within seven days of the date the judgment was

entered. See OCGA § 44-7-56; Ray M. Wright, Inc. v. Jones, 239 Ga. App. 521 (521

SE2d 456) (1999). Grady Roberts filed this application 8 days after the date the

magistrate court order was entered. Nevertheless, because we do not possess

jurisdiction to entertain the case, we decline to dismiss it on this ground. 

March 23, 2015
It is clear that Grady Roberts has no concern that his repeated refusal to follow

proper appellate procedure places an inordinate burden on the Court’s judicial

resources. Court of Appeals Rule 15 authorizes the imposition of a sanction in any

civil case wherein an application is determined to be frivolous. Because Grady

Roberts hasignored Georgia law and this Court’srepeated instruction that magistrate

court orders must first be appealed to state or superior court, we hereby fine Grady

Roberts $500 for filing this frivolous application.

We note that, as a general rule, when a lower court dismisses a properly-filed

appeal, an appellant may appeal from that decision. See generally American Medical

Security Group v. Parker, 284 Ga. 102, 103 (2) (663 SE2d 697) (2008). However, an

appeal from a magistrate court decision must first be heard by the state or superior

court before this Court may exercise jurisdiction over the case. See Handler, supra;

Westwind Corp., supra. To the extent that Grady Roberts may be dissatisfied with the

magistrate court’s handling of his appeal, a more appropriate avenue of relief may be

through a mandamus action. 

This Court may not accept an application or appeal when we lack jurisdiction.

Because the Georgia Constitution requires that “[a]ny court shall transfer to the

appropriate court in the state any civil case in which it determines that jurisdiction or

venue lies elsewhere,” 1983 Ga. Const., Art. 6, Sec. 1, Para. 8; Bosma v. Gunter, 258

Ga. 664 (373 SE2d 368) (1988), this case is hereby TRANSFERRED to the State

Court of Fulton County for disposition. 

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

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.

03/23/2015