Cynthia Hewlett v. John Hewlett

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ February 23, 2018

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A18D0319. CYNTHIA HEWLETT v. JOHN HEWLETT et al.

John and Mary Hewlett filed a petition to adopt their grandson, C. J. H., also known as C. J. J. H. Cynthia Hewlett, the child’s biological mother, objected to the adoption. The trial court thereafter entered a judgment, terminating Cynthia Hewlett’s parental rights and granting the grandparents’ petition for adoption. Cynthia Hewlett has filed a timely application for discretionary review of the trial court’s order; although her application is sparse, she challenges both the termination of her parental rights and the adoption. Ordinarily, OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (12) provides that appeals from orders terminating parental rights require an application for discretionary appeal. However, orders that both terminate parental rights and grant adoptions may be appealed directly, so long as the appellant raises arguments on appeal challenging the adoption. See Sauls v. Atchison, 326 Ga. App. 301, 303-304 (1) (756 SE2d 577) (2014); but see Numanovic v. Jones, 321 Ga. App. 763, 764 (743 SE2d 450) (2013) (concluding that a child’s biological father was required to file an application for discretionary review where he only challenged the trial court’s orders denying his petition for legitimation and terminating his parental rights). Under OCGA § 5-6-35 (j), this Court will grant an otherwise timely discretionary application if the trial court’s order is subject to direct appeal. Accordingly, Cynthia Hewlett’s application is hereby GRANTED. She shall have ten (10) days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal with the superior court. If, however, she has already filed a notice of appeal, she need not file a second notice.

The superior court is DIRECTED to include a copy of this order in the appellate record.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 02/23/2018 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.