# Cou r t of Appea l s of t h e S ta te of

Geor gi a

A TLA N TA ,_

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The C o u rt o f Appea ls h ereb

y p a s s es the fo llo wi

n g order:

A25D 0028

. S E AN CROS SW H IT E v. K RIS T I YAK E

.

The p a rties w er e d iv o rc ed in 201 4. I n 2023, Sean Cro ssw hite f iled a p etitio n

to mo d if y c u st o d y , p arenting time, and child su p p o rt, and a petitio n f o r c o ntemp t.
Fo llo w ing a hearing, the c o u rt d i s m i ssed t he p etitio n to mo d if y c u sto d y, parenting time, and c hild su p po r t, d enied the p etitio n f or c o n te m p t , and aw ard ed K risti Yak e

atto r ney’ s fees. Cro ssw hite then tim e l y f i l ed this a p p lic atio n f

o r d isc retio nary rev iew

. 1

U n d e r O C GA § 5- 6

- 34 (a) (1 1 ), d irec t ap p eals are p ermitted f ro m “ [a]l l j u d gments or o r d ers in c hild c u sto d y c ases a w ard ing, ref u sing to c hange, o r mo d if

ying

c hild c u sto d y o r ho ld ing o r d e c lining t o h o l d perso ns in co ntemp t o f s u c h c hild

c u s to d y j u d gment or o rd ers. ” Thu s, w he n t he ap peal arises f ro m a c hild c u sto d y

mo d if ic atio n c ase, and the ap p e llant raises c hild c u sto d y issu es, the o rd er is d irec tly

ap p ealable. See Vo

yles v

. Vo yles , 301 Ga. 44, 46

- 47 (7 9 9 SE2d 1 60) (201 7 ); Pa ppa s v

. S tewa rt , 36 9 Ga. A p p

. 40, 41 ( 1 ) (89 2 SE2d 59 ) (2023). B ec au s e Cro ssw hite seek s to

c hallenge the trial c o u rt’ s c hild c u sto d y and c o ntemp t ru ling, the o r der here may be

ap p ealed d irec tly

. S e e id

. M o reo v er, b ec a u se Cro ssw hite’ s direc t a p p eal o f the

mo d if ic atio n o rd er is pro p er, he may r aise o n ap p eal “ all j u d gments, ru lings, o r o rd e rs rend e red in t he c ase

. . . whic h may af f ec t t he p r o c e ed ings b elo w [,]” ev e n if tho se

o rd ers are no t o therw ise su bj ec t to d irec t a p p eal. OCGA § 5- 6

- 34 (d ). See also Mu rphy

v

. Mu rphy , 328 Ga. A pp

. 7 6 7, 7 6 8 (1 ) (b) (7 59 SE2d 9 09 ) (201 4).

1 W e granted a n extensio n o f time, allo wing Cro ssw hite u ntil A u gu st 1 2, 2024,
to f ile his ap p lic atio n. See Case N o

. A 24E0081 (J u ly 1 0, 2024). August 27, 2024W e will grant a timely d isc retio nary a p p lic atio n if the lo w er c o u r t ’ s o r d er is

su bj ec t t o d irec t a p p eal. See OCGA § 5

- 6

- 3 5 ( j )

. Ac c o rd ingly, this ap p lic atio n is hereby GRA N TED

. Cro ssw hite shall hav e ten d ays f ro m the d ate o f this o rd er to f ile

a no t ic e o f ap p eal w ith the trial c o u rt. T he c lerk o f the trial c o u rt is DI RECTED to inc lu d e a c o py o f this o rd er in the rec o rd transmitted to the Co u rt o f A p p eals.

C o u r t o f A p p e a ls o f t h e S t a t e o f G e o r g ia C le r k ’ s O ffic e , A t la n t a ,

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I c e r t ify 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 fr o m
t h e m in u t e s o f t h e C o u r t o f A pp e a ls o f G e o r g ia

. W it n e s s m y s ig n a t u r e a n d t h e s e a l o f s a id c o u r t h e r e t o a ffix e d t h e d a y a n d y e a r la s t a b o v e w r

it t e n

.

, C le r

k

. 08/27/2024