Kyjuane L. Chatman v. Frank J. Jordan, Jr., Judge

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ January 11, 2018

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A18A0834. KYJUANE L. CHATMAN v. FRANK J. JORDAN, JR., JUDGE.

In 2004, Kyjuane Chatman pled guilty to possession of marijuana, a jury found him guilty of rape and other related charges, and the trial court imposed a total sentence of life in prison. We affirmed Chatman’s judgment of conviction on appeal. Chatman v. State, 283 Ga. App. 673 (642 SE2d 361) (2007).

In 2017, Chatman attempted to file a petition for a writ of mandamus naming a superior court judge as the defendant. The trial court denied filing of the petition under OCGA § 9-15-2 (d), on the ground that it showed a complete absence of any justiciable issue of law or fact. Chatman then filed a notice of appeal to the Supreme Court, which transferred the appeal to this Court. We lack jurisdiction.

While judgments and orders granting or refusing to grant mandamus relief generally are directly appealable, see OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (7), under the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, an appeal in a civil action filed by a prisoner must be initiated by filing an application for discretionary review. See OCGA § 42-12-8; Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489, 490 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). Because Chatman was incarcerated at the time he attempted to file his petition, his failure to comply with the discretionary review procedures deprives us of jurisdiction over this direct appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED. See Jones, 267 Ga. at 490-491.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 01/11/2018 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.