Gregory Andrews v. Alna Draper

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ March 09, 2022

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A22A1011. GREGORY ANDREWS v. ALNA DRAPER.

Within 30 days after the trial court entered a final judgment in this divorce case, Gregory Andrews filed both a notice of direct appeal and an application for discretionary review.1 We denied the discretionary application. See Case No. A22D0201 (Jan. 31, 2022). This is the direct appeal. We lack jurisdiction for two reasons. First, appeals from “judgments or orders in divorce, alimony, and other domestic relations cases” must be made by application for discretionary appeal. OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (2). Andrews has no right of direct appeal here. See, e.g., Bedford v. Bedford, 246 Ga. 780 (273 SE2d 167) (1980). Second, our previous denial of Andrews’s application for discretionary review was an adjudication on the merits, and therefore the doctrine of res judicata bars this direct appeal from the same trial court order. See Northwest Social & Civic Club, Inc. v. Franklin, 276 Ga. 859, 860 (583 SE2d 858) (2003); Hook v. Bergen, 286 Ga. App. 258, 260-261 (1) (649 SE2d 313) (2007).

1 Andrews’s notice of appeal was directed to the Supreme Court, and he also filed his discretionary application there. The Supreme Court transferred both cases to us. See S22D0402 (Dec. 12, 2021); S22A0545 (Feb. 1, 2022).

For these reasons, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 03/09/2022 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.