George W. Pitts, Jr. v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ August 04, 2016 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A16A2128. GEORGE W. PITTS, JR. v. THE STATE. In 2004, a jury found George W. Pitts, Jr., guilty of several offenses, including aggravated child molestation. On direct appeal, we vacated Pitts’s conviction as to aggravated child molestation, but affirmed his remaining convictions. See Pitts v. State, 287 Ga. App. 540 ( 652 SE2d 181 ) (2007). Pitts subsequently filed a motion for an out-of-time appeal, seeking to challenge the remaining convictions. The trial court denied the motion, and Pitts appeals the denial. We lack jurisdiction. “An out-of-time appeal is a judicial creation that serves as the remedy for a frustrated right of appeal.” Kilgore v. State, 325 Ga. App. 874, 875 (1) ( 756 SE2d 9 ) (2014) (punctuation omitted). As Pitts already has had a direct appeal, he is not entitled to an out-of-time appeal. See Richards v. State, 275 Ga. 190, 191 ( 563 SE2d 856 ) (2002) (“[T]here is no right to directly appeal the denial of a motion for out-of-time appeal filed by a criminal defendant whose conviction has been affirmed on direct appeal.”). Accordingly, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 08/04/2016 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.