Jean Jocelyn Merelien v. Panel Delcham

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,_________________ June 07, 2012

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A12A1981. JEAN JOCELYN MERILIEN v. PANEL DELCHAM et al.

Jean Merilien is currently incarcerated for the double murder of his wife and mother-in-law. The survivors of those victims brought a wrongful death action against him, and default judgment was entered in their favor. Merilien has filed multiple motions in an effort to set aside that default judgment, all of which have been denied. On April 25, 2012, Merilien filed a notice of appeal from the “Order Denied of Motion to Set Aside Void-Mental Ill Incompetent Default Judgment.” Although the notice of appeal does not reference the date of the order in question, it appears from the record that Merilien wishes to appeal the court’s March 15, 2012 order denying his request to file in forma pauperis a motion to set aside the default judgment. We lack jurisdiction for at least two reasons. First, as a prisoner, Merilien was required to file an application for discretionary appeal. See OCGA § 42-12-8; Griffin v. Keller, 278 Ga. 878 (608 SE2d 221) (2005); Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). Second, Merilien’s appeal is untimely. Under OCGA § 5-6-38 (a), a notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after the entry of an appealable judgment. Merilien’s notice of appeal, however, was filed 41 days after entry of the order in question. For these reasons, we lack jurisdiction to consider this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 06/07/2012 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,_________________ I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.