Opinion
A24A1295
04-29-2024
WILLIAM HUGHEY v. THE STATE.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
A jury found William Hughey guilty of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and other offenses, and we affirmed his convictions on appeal. Hughey v. State, Case No. A18A1812 (Jan. 18, 2019). He later filed an extraordinary motion for a new trial in which he challenged the sufficiency of the evidence to support his convictions and the trial court's failure to instruct the jury on the elements of aggravated battery and argued that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance. The trial court denied the motion in March 2024, and Hughey filed a direct appeal to this Court. We lack jurisdiction.
An appeal from an order denying an extraordinary motion for a new trial must be initiated by filing an application for discretionary review. OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (7), (b); Balkcom v. State, 227 Ga.App. 327, 329 (489 S.E.2d 129) (1997). "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). Hughey's failure to follow the discretionary review procedure deprives us of jurisdiction over this direct appeal.
To the extent that Hughey's extraordinary motion for a new trial may be construed as a motion to vacate his judgment of conviction, "a petition to vacate or modify a judgment of conviction is not an appropriate remedy in a criminal case," Harper v. State, 286 Ga. 216, 218 (1) (686 S.E.2d 786) (2009), and any appeal from an order denying or dismissing such a petition or motion must be dismissed, see Roberts v. State, 286 Ga. 532, 532 (690 S.E.2d 150) (2010); Harper, 286 Ga. at 218 (2). For each of the above reasons, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.