Opinion
A22A1341
06-02-2022
DAVID MARTIN v. TERRY MASSEY.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
A jury found David Martin guilty of aggravated child molestation and sexual battery in 2014, and we affirmed his convictions on direct appeal. See Martin v. State, No. A17A0606 (Mar. 29, 2017). In 2021, Martin filed a petition seeking a "writ of mandamus and on prohibition relief." The trial court dismissed the petition in January 2022. Martin then filed this direct appeal.
Although judgments and orders granting or refusing to grant mandamus are generally directly appealable under OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (7), under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, any appeal in a civil case that was initiated by a prisoner must come by discretionary application. See OCGA § 42-12-8; Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489, 490 (480 S.E.2d 24) (1997). Because Martin is incarcerated, he was required to file an application for discretionary appeal in order to appeal the civil mandamus ruling. See Brock v. Hardman, 303 Ga. 729, 731 (2) (814 S.E.2d 736) (2018).