Moussa Diarra v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ April 04, 2019

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A19A1647. MOUSSA DIARRA v. THE STATE.

Moussa Diarra has been indicted for aggravated assault, terroristic threats, and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony. The trial court entered an order finding Diarra incompetent to stand trial. Diarra filed a pro se notice of appeal from this ruling. We, however, lack jurisdiction. First, Diarra’s pro se notice of appeal is a nullity because he currently is represented by counsel in this action and thus may not attempt to represent himself. See Tolbert v. Toole, 296 Ga. 357, 361-363 (3) (767 SE2d 24) (2014); Soberanis v. State, 345 Ga. App. 403, 404-405 (812 SE2d 800) (2018). Second, the charges against Diarra remain pending below. The appeal is thus interlocutory. See Boyd v. State, 191 Ga. App. 435 (383 SE2d 906) (1989); see also McGouirk v. State, 303 Ga. 881 (815 SE2d 825) (2018) (addressing merits of incompetency ruling following the grant of an application for interlocutory appeal). In order to appeal, Diarra was required to follow the interlocutory appeal procedures set forth in OCGA § 5-6-34 (b), including obtaining a certificate of immediate review within ten days of the order to be appealed and filing an application to appeal within ten days after the certificate was issued. Diarra’s failure to do so deprives this Court of jurisdiction.

For these reasons, we lack jurisdiction to consider this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 04/04/2019 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.