Anthony Q. Newman v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ March 06, 2020

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A20D0316. ANTHONY Q. NEWMAN v. THE STATE.

Anthony Newman entered a negotiated plea in August 2016. Later that month, he filed the first of multiple pro se motions to withdraw his plea. It appears that the trial court has not ruled on those motions. In 2019, Newman filed a pro se motion to file an out-of-term motion to withdraw his guilty plea. The trial court treated this filing as a motion to withdraw a guilty plea and dismissed it on the ground that the court no longer had jurisdiction to allow the withdrawal of the plea. Newman then filed this timely application for discretionary appeal. Orders resolving out-of-time motions to withdraw guilty pleas have been treated by our Supreme Court as directly appealable. See Ellison v. State, 283 Ga. 461, 461 (660 SE2d 373) (2008); Smith v. State, 283 Ga. 376, 376-377 (659 SE2d 380) (2008). Thus, it appears that the trial court’s order is subject to direct appeal. We will grant a timely application for discretionary appeal if the lower court’s order is subject to direct appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (j). Accordingly, this application is hereby GRANTED. Newman shall have ten days from the date of this order to file his notice of appeal with the trial court. If he has already filed a notice of appeal in the trial court,

he need not file an additional notice. The clerk of the trial court is DIRECTED to include a copy of this order in the records transmitted to the Court of Appeals.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 03/06/2020 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.