Alif Thompson v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ January 08, 2015

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A14A1537. ALIF THOMPSON v. THE STATE.

Appellant Alif Thompson entered a negotiated guilty plea to one count of child molestation on May 17, 2011.1 He moved to withdraw his plea on June 6, 2011, and the trial court denied his motion to withdraw on October 6, 2011. On November 3, 2011, Thompson filed an unopposed motion for a 30-day extension of time to file his notice of appeal pursuant to OCGA § 5-6-39, and a separate motion for reconsideration of the trial court’s order denying his motion to withdraw his guilty plea. The trial court granted Thompson’s request for an extension on or about November 15, 2011, but Thompson did not file a notice of appeal within the extended period. On August 27, 2012, Thompson filed a brief in support of his motion for reconsideration, and the trial court held a hearing on Thompson’s motion on August 30, 2012. The trial court entered an order denying Thompson’s motion for reconsideration on September 26, 2012, and Thompson filed his notice of appeal from that order on October 5, 2012. Thompson’s notice of appeal was untimely. Thompson failed to file a notice of appeal from the order denying his motion to withdraw his guilty plea within the initial 30-day period provided by OCGA § 5-6-38 (a), or within the 30-day extended period authorized by OCGA § 5-6-39. Moreover, the law is well-settled that a

1 Thompson was also charged with enticing a child for indecent purposes, criminal attempt to commit aggravated child molestation, and two additional counts of child molestation, but the State agreed to dead docket those charges.

motion for reconsideration is not directly appealable, and that the filing of such a motion does not extend the time for filing a notice of appeal. See Bell v. Cohran, 244 Ga. App. 510, 510 (536 SE2d 187) (2000); Pinkney v. Union, 199 Ga. App. 529, 529- 530 (405 SE2d 521) (1991); Savage v. Newsome, 173 Ga. App. 271, 271-272 (326 SE2d 5) (1985). Accordingly, Thompson’s appeal is untimely and must be DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 01/08/2015 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.