Kelvin D. Beard v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,__________________ October 18, 2012

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A13A0284. KELVIN D. BEARD v. THE STATE.

In 1998, Kelvin Beard pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute marijuana. In 2011, he filed a “Petition for Writ of Error Coram Nobis,” arguing that his guilty plea was invalid because he had entered it without an understanding of the elements of the offense. On March 23, 2012, the trial court entered an order dismissing the petition. Beard then filed a “Petition to Resubmit Writ of Error Coram Nobis,” which the trial court denied. On July 2, 2012, Beard filed a notice of appeal.1 A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of the entry of the order sought to be appealed. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). Beard may have had a right to appeal the trial court’s order dismissing his original petition,2 but he did not file a notice of appeal within 30 days of the entry of that order. Instead, he filed a petition to resubmit the petition, which was in substance a motion for reconsideration of the dismissal order. The denial of a motion for reconsideration is not directly appealable, and the filing of such a motion does not extend the time for filing an appeal. See Bell v. Cohran, 244 Ga. App. 510, 511 (536 SE2d 187) (2000); Savage v. Newsome, 173 Ga. App. 271 (326 SE2d 5) (1985). Because Beard failed to file a notice of appeal within 30 days of the entry of the appealable judgment entered against him, this untimely appeal is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

1 Beard appealed to the Supreme Court, which transferred the case here. 2 See Seabrook v. State, 315 SE2d 801 (728 SE2d 322) (2012) (considering merits of direct appeal from denial of petition for writ of error coram nobis).

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 10/18/2012 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.