Opinion
A24A1126
03-13-2024
RANDALL SCOTT BARRON v. THE STATE.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
On March 2, 2023, the trial court entered an order denying Randall Scott Barron's motion to withdraw his guilty plea. On April 6, 2023, Barron filed a notice of appeal to this Court. Because the notice was not timely filed, we lack jurisdiction.
A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the order sought to be appealed. See OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). "[T]he proper and timely filing of the notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction upon the appellate court." Davis v. State, 330 Ga.App. 711, 711 (769 S.E.2d 133) (2015) (citation, punctuation, and emphasis omitted). Here, Barron filed his notice of appeal 35 days after the trial court entered its order. This appeal is therefore untimely and is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.
In the notice, Barron states that he did not receive the trial court's order until March 7, 2023, five days after it was entered. Although Barron's notice of appeal was filed within 30 days of the date he claims he received the order, the event triggering the 30-day clock for filing a notice of appeal is "[t]he filing with the clerk of a judgment, signed by the judge" - not the losing party's receipt thereof. OCGA § 5-631. See generally Rocha v. State, 287 Ga.App. 446, 447 (1) (a) (651 S.E.2d 781) (2007).