Herbert Parland v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ February 02, 2018

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A18A0968. HERBERT PARLAND v. THE STATE.

On July 13, 2017, Herbert Parland pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and other traffic offenses. On August 17, 2017, he filed a letter with the trial court, requesting an opportunity to appeal his conviction. The clerk of court responded to Parland with a letter, instructing him to provide the court with a notice of appeal and providing instructions for doing so. Thereafter, on September 19, 2017, Parland filed a notice of appeal. We, however, lack jurisdiction. To be timely, a notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the order on appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction on this Court. See Rowland v. State, 264 Ga. 872, 872 (1) (452 SE2d 756) (1995). Because Parland filed his September 19 notice of appeal 68 days after the entry of his conviction, it is untimely. Even construing Parland’s August 17 letter as a notice of appeal, it is also untimely because it was filed 35 days after entry of the order he seeks to appeal. Moreover, even if we were to instead construe Parland’s August 17 letter or his subsequent September 19 notice as a motion for an out-of-time appeal, the trial court issued no order granting, denying, or otherwise addressing such a motion. Given the absence of any written ruling signed by a trial judge, we have nothing to review. See generally Amica v. State, 307 Ga. App. 276, 282 (2) (704 SE2d 831) (2010). See also Ward v. State, 299 Ga. App. 826, 827 (683 SE2d 894) (2009) (noting that this Court is for the correction of errors and will not consider issues on which the trial court has not ruled).

For these reasons, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 02/02/2018 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.