David Patton v. Ginne K. Miller

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,__________________ May 06, 2013

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A13D0334. DAVID PATTON v. GINNE K. MILLER.

David Patton filed this application for discretionary appeal from the trial court’s amended order on his motion for new trial in this child custody/contempt action. The order specifically addresses custody and/or visitation issues for the parties’ minor child, and notes that “the Court’s April 19, 2011 order does not reflect the parties’ agreement regarding summer visitation as read in open Court.” OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (11) provides that “[a]ll judgments or orders in child custody cases including, but not limited to, awarding or refusing to change child custody or holding or declining to hold persons in contempt of such child custody judgment or orders” are now directly appealable. See Collins v. Davis, 318 Ga. App. 265, (733 SE2d 798) (2012). And a child custody proceeding has been defined as “a proceeding in which legal custody, physical custody, or visitation with respect to a child is an issue.” OCGA § 19-9-41 (4); see also Edge v. Edge, 290 Ga. 551, 552 (1) (722 SE2d 749) (2012) (actions seeking to change visitation are considered to be child custody cases). The order at issue here, addressing summer visitation, is directly appealable under OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (11) “as it involved the establishment of legal custody over [the] child.” Caldwell v. Meadows, 312 Ga. App. 70, 77 (4) (717 SE2d 668) (2011). This Court will grant an otherwise timely discretionary application if the lower court’s order is directly appealable and the applicant has not already filed a notice of appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (j). Accordingly, this application is hereby GRANTED. Patton shall have ten days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal with the trial court. If, however, he has already filed a notice of appeal, he need not file a second notice. The clerk of the trial court is DIRECTED to include a copy of this

order in the record transmitted to the Court of Appeals.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 05/06/2013 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.