Opinion
A24A0335
11-13-2023
ALEXANDER LORENZO JACKSON v. THE STATE
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
Alexander Lorenzo Jackson was convicted of rape and false imprisonment. Following the denial of his motion for new trial, we affirmed his convictions on appeal. Jackson v. State, 334 Ga.App. 469 (779 S.E.2d 700) (2015). Following his appeal, Jackson filed a pro se extraordinary motion for new trial. The trial court dismissed the motion on February 9, 2023, and Jackson filed a motion for reconsideration, which the trial court denied on February 20, 2023. Jackson then filed a notice of appeal on March 22, 2023. We lack jurisdiction for several reasons.
First, OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (7) requires a discretionary application to appeal from an order denying or dismissing an extraordinary motion for new trial. Davis v. State, 182 Ga.App. 736, 736-737 (356 S.E.2d 762) (1987). "Compliance with the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional." Smoak v. Dept. of Human Resources, 221 Ga.App. 257, 257 (471 S.E.2d 60) (1996).
Next, even if Jackson was entitled to a direct appeal of the order denying the extraordinary motion for new trial, this appeal is untimely. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of the entry of an appealable judgment. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer appellate jurisdiction on this Court. Rowland v. State, 264 Ga. 872, 872 (1) (452 S.E.2d 756) (1995). Jackson's notice of appeal was filed on March 22, 2023, 41 days after entry of the trial court's order dismissing the extraordinary motion for new trial.
Finally, the denial of a motion for reconsideration is not appealable in its own right, see Bell v. Cohran, 244 Ga.App. 510, 511 (536 S.E.2d 187) (2000), and the filing of such a motion does not extend the time for filing a notice of appeal. See Cheeley-Towns v. Rapid Group, 212 Ga.App. 183, 183 (1) (441 S.E.2d 452) (1994).
For these reasons, we lack jurisdiction over this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.