Opinion
A23A1577
07-13-2023
JULIA CATHERINE STANLEY v. THE STATE.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
After she engaged in allegedly threatening and harassing behavior towards at least seven individuals, Julia Catherine Stanley was arrested in or about June 2022. On September 1, 2022, the trial court granted Stanley's motion for bond. The bond had certain conditions, including a requirement that Stanley reside with a relative at a specified address in South Carolina and that she refrain from engaging in further threatening or harassing conduct. In December 2022, the State moved to revoke Stanley's bond, alleging that she was not residing at the South Carolina address and that she had engaged in further threatening conduct. After Stanley failed to appear at a hearing on the State's motion, the trial court revoked her bond in April 2023. Stanley then filed an emergency motion, asking that the court set an "affordable" bond. The trial court denied that motion and Stanley filed this direct appeal. We, however, lack jurisdiction.
Under OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1), appeals generally may be taken from "[a]ll final judgments, that is to say, where the case is no longer pending in the court below." An order denying pre-trial bond is not a final judgment under OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1), as the case remains pending in the trial court. Consequently, Stanley was required to use the interlocutory appeal procedures - which include both obtaining a certificate of immediate review from the trial court and filing an application for interlocutory review in this Court - to seek appellate review of the denial of her motion for pre-trial bond. See Johnson v. State, 304 Ga. 369, 370 (1) (818 S.E.2d 601) (2018).
Her failure to do so deprives us of jurisdiction over this direct appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED. See Mullinax v. State, 271 Ga. 112, 112 (1) (515 S.E.2d 839) (1999).