Summary
affirming dismissal where plaintiff did not aver that his status as a convicted felon resulted from counsel's negligence rather than his voluntary guilty plea
Summary of this case from Rosenberg v. ShostakOpinion
73526.
DECIDED FEBRUARY 3, 1987.
Legal malpractice. DeKalb Superior Court. Before Judge Seeliger.
Ricky L. Hogan, pro se. Alton G. Hartley, for appellee.
Appellant-plaintiff was indicted for the offenses of murder, rape, burglary, and forgery and he was scheduled for trial with the State set to seek the death penalty. Pursuant to a plea bargain, however, appellant pleaded guilty to murder, burglary, and forgery and received a sentence of life plus thirty years. The rape count was nolle prossed. Appellant then filed the instant civil action against appellee-defendant, the attorney who had represented him in the criminal case. Appellant alleged appellee's "legal malpractice, unlawful representation, and conspiracy." The trial court granted appellee's motion to dismiss, from which order appellant brings this appeal.
A complaint must set forth "[a] short and plain statement of the claims showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. . . ." OCGA § 9-11-8 (a) (2) (A). Although it need not set forth a cause of action, a complaint must set forth a claim for relief. Mathews v. Greiner, 130 Ga. App. 817, 822 (4) ( 204 S.E.2d 949) (1974). Nowhere in his complaint does appellant aver that his current status as a convicted felon is the ultimate result of appellee's actionable negligence or coercion and not the inevitable consequence of a guilty plea that appellant himself intelligently, freely, and voluntarily made. Cf. Johnson v. Butcher, 165 Ga. App. 469 ( 301 S.E.2d 665) (1983); Hughes v. Malone, 146 Ga. App. 341 ( 247 S.E.2d 107) (1978). Appellant's complaint contains merely an enumeration of certain pre-plea actions attributed to appellee, which actions are denominated in a conclusory fashion as malpractice or misconduct. This list of grievances does not set forth a claim for relief. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in granting appellee's motion to dismiss. See Bush v. Morris, 123 Ga. App. 497 ( 181 S.E.2d 503) (1971); Tingle v. Arnold, Cate Allen, 129 Ga. App. 134, 137-138 (3) ( 199 S.E.2d 260) (1973).
Judgment affirmed. McMurray, P. J., and Pope, J., concur.