MAORE MWENDA v. GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ January 05, 2023

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A23D0191. MAORE MWENDA v. GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES et al.

On September 28, 2022, the trial court entered an order finding Maore Mwenda to be in criminal contempt. Mwenda filed a notice of appeal with the Supreme Court, which that Court docketed as an application for discretionary appeal. The Supreme Court subsequently transferred the application to this Court. See Case No. S23D0252. (Nov. 17, 2022). A judgment of criminal contempt may be appealed directly.1 See OCGA § 5-6- 34 (a) (2); Taylor v. State, 307 Ga. 755, 755 n.3 (838 SE2d 261) (2020). We will grant an otherwise timely discretionary application if the lower court’s order is subject to direct appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (j). Accordingly, this application is hereby GRANTED. Mwenda shall have ten days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal with the trial court. If, however, Mwenda has already filed a notice of appeal in the trial court, 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. Mwenda filed several additional

1 It appears from the limited application material that Mwenda was in court on a domestic relations matter. Under OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (2), appeals from orders in domestic relations cases ordinarily must be made by discretionary application. The criminal contempt ruling is distinct from the domestic relations matter and may be appealed directly. See Taylor, 307 Ga. at 755 n.3. But our consideration of the contempt ruling does not permit us to entertain arguments pertaining to the underlying domestic relations case.

documents, which have been docketed as motions. Those motions are hereby DISMISSED as moot.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 01/05/2023 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.