Opinion
A23A0311
09-19-2022
THURSTON WALLER v. THE STATE.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
In 2013, Thurston Waller entered a negotiated guilty plea to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and battery. Years later, he filed a motion for out of time appeal, which the trial court denied on February 9, 2021. Waller filed notices of appeal from this ruling on April 7, 2021 and on May 27, 2021. We lack jurisdiction.
A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the order sought to be appealed. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). "[A] timely-filed notice of appeal is a jurisdictional prerequisite to a valid appeal." Henderson v. State, 265 Ga. 317 (1) (454 S.E.2d 458) (1995). Because neither notice of appeal was filed within 30 days of the trial court's order, we lack jurisdiction to consider this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.
We further note that the Georgia Supreme Court recently determined that a motion for out-of-time appeal is not a viable remedy for seeking post-conviction relief. See Rutledge v. State, 313 Ga. 460, 461 (870 S.E.2d 720) (2022); Cook v. State, 313 Ga. 471, 506 (5) (870 S.E.2d 758) (2022).