Court Opinion

ID: 9927204
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-01-26 15:09:59.813617+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:24:04.838156
License: Public Domain

01/26/2024
                  IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE
                               AT JACKSON
                                          January 25, 2024

                       ANGELA ASKEW v. NICHOLAS ASKEW

                      Appeal from the Circuit Court for Shelby County
                        No. CT-2561-21     Mary L. Wagner, Judge
                         ___________________________________

                               No. W2023-01700-COA-R3-CV
                           ___________________________________

The notice of appeal in this case was not timely filed. Therefore, this Court lacks
jurisdiction to consider this appeal. The appeal is dismissed.

                 Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Appeal Dismissed.

J. STEVEN STAFFORD, P.J., W.S.; ARNOLD B. GOLDIN, J.; and KENNY ARMSTRONG, J.

Angela Askew, Memphis, Tennessee, appellant, pro se.

Lori Renee Holyfield, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellee, Nicholas Askew.

                                  MEMORANDUM OPINION1

       On December 1, 2023, Appellant, Angela Askew, filed a Notice of Appeal in this
Court. The Notice of Appeal related to an order of the trial court entered on October 24,
2023. Pursuant to Rule 13(b) of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Court did
a preliminary review to determine whether this Court had subject matter jurisdiction over
the appeal. Based on that review, we determined that this Court likely did not have subject

      1
          Rule 10 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals provides:

               This Court, with the concurrence of all judges participating in the case, may affirm,
      reverse or modify the actions of the trial court by memorandum opinion when a formal
      opinion would have no precedential value. When a case is decided by memorandum
      opinion it shall be designated “MEMORANDUM OPINION,” shall not be published, and
      shall not be cited or relied on for any reason in any unrelated case.
matter jurisdiction because Appellant’s notice of appeal was not timely filed.

        A notice of appeal must be filed within thirty (30) days after the date of entry of the
final judgment. See Tenn. R. App. P. 4. This thirty-day requirement may not be waived.
American Steinwinter Investor Group v. American Steinwinter, Inc., 964 S.W.2d 569
(Tenn. Ct. App. 1997). An appellate court cannot extend the time for filing a notice of
appeal. Tenn. R. App. P. 2. “In civil cases, the failure to timely file a notice of appeal
deprives the appellate court of jurisdiction to hear the appeal.” Arfken & Associates, P.A.
v. Simpson Bridge Co., Inc., 85 S.W.3d 789, 791 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2002) (citations omitted).
In fact, “[i]f the notice of appeal is not timely filed, the appellate court is required to dismiss
the appeal.” Id.

       In this case, Appellant is seeking to appeal an order entered by the trial court on
October 24, 2023. Thus, Appellant’s Notice of Appeal should have been filed with the
Clerk of this Court on or before November 23, 2023. See Tenn. R. App. P. 4(a). However,
Appellant did not file her Notice of Appeal with this Court until December 1, 2023, which
was more than thirty (30) days after October 24, 2023.

       On December 1, 2023, Appellant filed a Motion with the Clerk of this Court titled
“Motion to Accept a Late File[d] Notice of Appeal.” On December 21, 2023, this Court
entered an Order setting forth the aforementioned jurisdictional issue caused by
Appellant’s untimely Notice of Appeal and denied the Motion to accept her late-filed
appeal. Further, the Court directed Appellant to “within ten (10) days of entry of [the]
Order, show cause why this appeal should not be dismissed for failure to timely file the
notice of appeal.” Appellant filed a Response on January 5, 2024, but said Response did
not show good cause why this Court should not dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

       In light of the foregoing, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED. Costs of this matter are
assessed to Appellant, Angela Askew, for which execution may issue, if necessary.

                                                            PER CURIUM

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