Opinion
A22A0161
10-13-2021
CHADRUS L. BROWN v. THE STATE.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
Chadrus L. Brown pled guilty to one count of forgery in February 2000. He subsequently filed a "demand for void judgment," claiming that the judgment is void because the Superior Court of Cobb County lacked jurisdiction over the proceeding. The trial court denied the motion, and Brown filed this appeal. The State has filed a motion to dismiss this appeal, and we agree that we lack jurisdiction.
First, a post-conviction motion seeking to vacate an allegedly void conviction is not a valid procedure in a criminal case, and any appeal from the denial or dismissal of such a motion must be dismissed. See Williams v. State, 287 Ga. 192, 192 (695 S.E.2d 244) (2010); Roberts v. State, 286 Ga. 532, 532 (690 S.E.2d 150) (2010).
Second, Brown's notice of appeal is untimely. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after entry of the order to be appealed. OCGA § 5-6-3 8 (a). The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction on this Court. Rowland v. State, 264 Ga. 872, 872 (1) (452 S.E.2d 756) (1995). Here, the trial court entered its order denying Brown's motion on March 5, 2021, and Brown filed his notice of appeal on May 3, 2021, which was 59 days later. For these reasons, we lack jurisdiction to consider Brown's appeal. The State's motion to dismiss is GRANTED, and the appeal is hereby DISMISSED.