Opinion
A21A1568
06-11-2021
JOHN HUGHES GREEN v. THE STATE.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
John Hughes Green pled guilty to trafficking methamphetamine and possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. The trial court entered Green's judgment of conviction and sentence on April 22, 2021, and Green filed a pro se notice of appeal on May 20, 2021. We lack jurisdiction.
"A criminal defendant in Georgia does not have the right to represent himself and also be represented by an attorney, and pro se filings by represented parties are therefore unauthorized and without effect." Tolbert v. Toole, 296 Ga. 357, 363 (3) (767 S.E.2d 24) (2014) (punctuation omitted). Here, Green was represented by counsel at his guilty plea hearing. There is nothing in the record indicating that the attorney either withdrew or was relieved from representation. See White v. State, 302 Ga. 315, 318 (2) (806 S.E.2d 489) (2017) ("[D]efense counsel's duties toward their clients extend for at least the 30 days after the entry of judgment when a notice of appeal may be filed."). Under these circumstances, Green's pro se notice of appeal is a nullity. See Soberanis v. State, 345 Ga.App. 403, 405 (812 S.E.2d 800) (2018). For this reason, the appeal is hereby DISMISSED. See id.
Because Green was represented by counsel before the trial court, he is informed of the following in accordance with Rowland v. State, 264 Ga. 872, 875-876 (2) (452 S.E.2d 756) (1995):
This appeal has been dismissed because your attorney failed to file a proper and timely notice of appeal. If you still wish to appeal, you may petition the trial court for leave to file an out-of-time appeal. If the trial court grants your request, you will have 30 days from the entry of that order to file a notice of appeal referencing your conviction. If the trial court denies your request, you will have 30 days from the entry of that order to file a notice of appeal referencing the denial of your request for an out-of-time appeal.
The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to send a copy of this order to Green and to his attorney, and the latter also is DIRECTED to send a copy to Green.