Frederico Andres Espinal A.K.A Federico Andres Espinal v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ March 12, 2015

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A15D0285. FREDERICO ANDRES ESPINAL v. THE STATE.

Frederico Andres Espinal pled guilty to trafficking in cocaine. He later filed a motion for out-of-time appeal, which the trial court denied.1 Espinal then filed this timely application for discretionary appeal. The denial of a motion for an out-of-time appeal is directly appealable. Lunsford v. State, 237 Ga. App. 696 (515 SE2d 198) (1999); see also Wetherington v. State, __ Ga. __ (Case No. S14A1525, decided February 2, 2015) (addressing merits of direct appeal from denial of motion for out-of-time appeal following guilty plea). Accordingly, this application for discretionary appeal is hereby GRANTED pursuant to OCGA § 5-6-35 (j). Espinal shall have ten days from the date of this order to file his notice of appeal in the trial court. OCGA § 5-6-35 (g). The clerk of the trial court is directed to include a copy of this order in the record transmitted to the Court of Appeals.2

1 Although the caption of the order states that the court is “denying” Espinal’s motion, the body of the order states the court is “dismissing” it. 2 Because Espinal also seeks to challenge other rulings of the trial court, we note that OCGA § 5-6-34 (d) will permit him to do so in his direct appeal from the denial of his motion for out-of-time appeal.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 03/12/2015 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.