Robert Kenneth Hollis v. Value Village

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ June 15, 2018

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A18A1807. HOLLIS v. VALUE VILLAGE.

Appellee Value Village (defendant below) has filed a motion to dismiss Robert Hollis’s appeal on the ground that the notice of appeal was untimely filed. The record shows the following. The trial court entered an order granting partial summary judgment to Value Village on December 4, 2017, and then entered an order granting summary judgment to Value Village on Hollis’s remaining claims on February 14, 2018. On March 9, 2018, Hollis filed in the trial court “Plaintiff’s Response to Order of February 14, 2018,” in which Hollis requested a jury trial and argued the merits of his case. On March 22, 2018, the trial court entered an order denying Hollis’s request for a jury trial, stating that the court had entered summary judgment in the case on February 14, 2018, and that if Hollis wished to challenge that judgment, he was required to make a timely appeal, not file a “response” to the trial court’s order. On April 20, 2018, Hollis filed a notice of appeal from the February 14, 2018 order and, on April 30, 2018, he filed an amended notice of appeal from the February 14, 2018 order and the December 1, 2017 order. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after entry of an appealable order. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a); § 5-6-35. The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction on this Court. See Rowland v. State, 264 Ga. 872, 872 (1) (1995); Smith v. McTaggart, 343 Ga. App. 144 (2017). Because Hollis filed his initial notice of appeal 65 days after the trial court entered its order granting final judgment against him, it was untimely and this Court lacks jurisdiction to

consider it. We note that Hollis’s filing of a response to the trial court’s judgment did not extend the time to file a notice of appeal. See generally Powell v. Darby Bank & Trust Co., 163 Ga. App. 524 (1) (1982). Accordingly, the Appellee’s motion is GRANTED, and the appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia C l e r k ’ s O f f i c e , Atlanta,____________________ 06/15/2018 I certif y 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.