Court Opinion

ID: 9916321
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-01-09 18:04:30.694779+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:24:59.179902
License: Public Domain

Court of Appeals
of the State of Georgia

                                        ATLANTA,____________________
                                                 January 09, 2024

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A24I0101. JUSTIN ALAN JONES v. THE STATE.

      A Carroll County grand jury indicted Justin Jones for kidnapping and several
other crimes. On August 30, 2023, the trial court entered an order in which, among
other things, the court denied Jones’s motion to dismiss for alleged speedy trial
violations, denied Jones’s request to represent himself, appointed the Carroll County
Public Defender’s Office to represent him, and concluded that Jones was not entitled
to hybrid representation in this case. See Johnson v. State, 315 Ga. 876, 890-891 (4)
(885 SE2d 725) (2023). On October 19, 2023, Jones filed, in the Supreme Court of
Georgia, a pro se “Inmate Form for Civil Actions Filed in the Supreme Court of
Georgia,” seeking to challenge the denial of his motion to dismiss for alleged speedy
trial violations. The Supreme Court construed the filing as an application for
interlocutory appeal and transferred it to this Court. We lack jurisdiction.
      By statute, a party seeking appellate review by way of an application for
interlocutory appeal must obtain a certificate of immediate review from the trial court
within ten days of entry of the order sought to be appealed. OCGA § 5-6-34 (b); see
Scruggs v. Ga. Dept. of Human Resources, 261 Ga. 587, 589 (1) (408 SE2d 103) (1991)
(“[A] party seeking appellate review from an interlocutory order must follow the
interlocutory-application subsection, OCGA § 5-6-34 (b), seek a certificate of
immediate review from the trial court, and comply with the time limitations
therein.”). Absent a certificate of immediate review, we lack jurisdiction over this
application for interlocutory appeal. See Scruggs, 261 Ga. at 589 (1).
       To the extent that Jones’s filing may be construed as seeking discretionary
review under OCGA § 5-6-35 (b), it was untimely filed 50 days after entry of the order
he seeks to appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (d) (an application for discretionary review
must be filed within 30 days of entry of the judgment or trial court order sought to be
appealed); Boyle v. State, 190 Ga. App. 734, 734 (380 SE2d 57) (1989) (the
requirements of OCGA § 5-6-35 are jurisdictional, and this Court cannot accept an
application for appeal not made in compliance therewith).
       For the above reasons, this application is hereby DISMISSED for lack of
jurisdiction.1

                                          Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
                                                  Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,________________
                                                                              01/09/2024
                                                  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.

       1
       Given Jones’s failure to comply with the interlocutory or discretionary appeal
requirements, we express no opinion on whether the pro se filing at issue here is
otherwise ineffective in light of the trial court’s ruling that he is not entitled to hybrid
representation in this case. See Johnson, 315 Ga. at 890-891 (4).