# C o u rt o f

A p p ea ls

o f t h e S t a te o f

G eo rg ia

ATLANTA,_

_ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _

Th e Co u rt

o f Ap p ea l s h er eb y p a s s es t h e f

o ll owi n g o r der :

A2 2 A0 74 5 . TOW NES v . THE STATE.

Jas o n T o w n e s fi l ed t h is ap p eal p u rs u an t t o a t ri al co u rt ord er gran t i n g h i s

m o ti o n fo r an o u t -o f-t i m e ap p eal

. Bu t i n Co ok v. S t a t e ,

__ _ Ga.

_ _ _ (_

_ _ SE2 d

_ _ _ )
(Cas e No

. S2 1 A1 2 7 0

, d eci d ed M arch 1 5

, 2 0 2 2 ), o u r Su p rem e Co u rt recen tl y h el d t h at

“ t h ere was an d i s n o leg al au t h o ri t y fo r m o t i o n s fo r o u t -o f-t i m e ap p eal i n t ri al co u rt s

an d t h at t h e o u t -o f-t i m e ap p eal p ro ced u re . . . i s n o t a l eg al ly co gn i zab l e v eh i cl e fo r

a co n v i ct ed d efen d an t t o s eek rel i ef fro m al l eg ed co ns t i t u ti o n a l v i o l at i o ns

. [Th i s ]

h o l d i n g ap p l i es

. . . t o al l cas es t h at are cu rren t l y o n d i rect rev i ew o r o t h erwi s e n o t y et

fi nal

. ” Id

. at

_

_ _ (5 ) (s l i p op

. at 8 2 ). So To wn es “ had n o ri g h t to fi l e a m o t i o n fo r an

o u t -o f-t i m e ap p eal i n t h e t ri al co u rt ; h is rem ed y , i f an y , l i es i n h ab eas co rp u s .”

Ru t l ed g e v. S ta t e ,

_

_ _ Ga.

_ _ _ (_

_ _ SE2 d

_ _ _ ) (Cas e No

. S2 1 A1 03 6

, d eci d ed M arch

1 5 , 2 0 2 2 ) (s li p o p . at 4 ).

Acco rd i ng l y , t he t ri al co u rt was wi t ho u t ju ri sd i ct i o n t o d eci d e [Fo st erW a i t h e ’s ] m o t i o n fo r [an ] o u t -o f-t i m e ap p eal

. . . an d b ecau s e t he t ri al

co u rt ’ s o rd er p lai n l y sh o w s t h at i t [g ran t ed ] t h e m ot i o n on t h e m eri ts

, th e

t ri al c o u r t ’s ord er m

us t b e[, an d hereb y i s,] v acat ed an d t h e cas e [i s ]

rem an d ed t o t h e t ri al co urt wi t h d i rect i o n t h at th e m ot i o n b e d i s m i s sed

. Co o k

, s u pra (ci t at i o n an d p u n ct u at i o n o m i t t ed ). A cco rd Ru t l ed g e , s u p ra (“ we v acat e

t h e t ri al co u rt ’ s o rd er [ru l i n g o n a m o t i o n fo r an ou t -o f-t i m e ap p eal ] an d rem an d fo r

en t ry o f t he ap p ro p ri at e di sm i s s al o rd er”); Li l l y v. S t a te

,

_

_ Ga. Ap p

.

_

_ (_

_ SE2 d

_ _ )
(Cas e No . A2 2A0 5 64 , d eci d ed M ar. 2 9

, 2 0 2 2).

If To wn es b el i ev es t h a t h e was u n co n s ti t u t i on al l y d ep ri v ed o f h i s ri g h t to

ap p eal

, h e m ay b e ab l e t o p u rs ue rel i ef fo r t h at cl ai m t h ro u g h a pet i t i o n fo r a wri t o f May 03, 2022h ab eas co rp u s , al o n g wi t h an y o t h er cl ai m s al l eg i n g d ep ri vat i o n o f h i s co n s t i t u t i o n al

ri gh t s in th e p ro ceed i n g s th at res u l t ed i n h i s co n v i ct i o n

. See OCGA § 9 -1 4-4 1 et s eq

. He s h o u l d b e aware o f t h e p o s s i b l e ap p l i cat i o n of t h e res t ri ct i o n s t h at ap p l y t o s u ch

h ab e a s c o r p u s fi l in g s , s uch as t h e t i m e d ead l i n es p ro vi d ed b y OCGA § 9-1 4 -4 2 (c)

an d t h e l i m i t at io n o n s ucces s iv e p et i t i o n s p ro v i d ed b y OCGA § 9 -1 4 -5 1

.

C o u r t o f A p p e a l s o f t h e S t a t e o

f G e o r g ia

C le r k ’ s O f f i c e
, A t la n t a
,

_

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I c e r ti fy t h a t t h e a b o v e is a t r u e e x t r a c t f r o m

t h e m i n u t e s o

f t h e C o u r t o

f A p p e a l s o f G e o r g i a

.
W i tn e s s m y s i g n a t u r e a n d th e s e a l o

f s a i d c o u r t
h e r e t o a f f i x e d t h e d a y a n d y e a r l a s t a b o v e w r i t t e n

.

, C l e r k

. 05/03/2022