Cedric Allen, Sr. v. Finequa Mahone

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ October 05, 2020

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A21A0249. CEDRIC ALLEN, SR. v. FINEQUA MAHONE.

In this domestic relations case, the trial court issued two orders on March 30, 2020, in which it: (i) found petitioner Cedric Allen, Sr., in contempt for failing to pay guardian ad litem fees; and (ii) denied Allen’s motions for (a) OCGA §§ 9-15-14, 13-6-11, and 19-9-3 attorney fees and expenses of litigation, (b) punitive damages under OCGA § 51-12-5.1, and (c) compliance with OCGA § 15-6-21. Allen then filed both a notice of appeal directed to the Supreme Court and an application for discretionary review in the Supreme Court, which transferred both matters to this Court. We denied Allen’s discretionary application on the merits in July 2020, see Allen v. Mahone, No. A20D0431 (July 31, 2020), and the direct appeal has been docketed as the instant case, No. A21A0249. Because we rejected Allen’s challenges to the trial court orders sought to be appealed here in Case No. A20D0431, the current appeal is barred by the law of the case. See Ross v. State, 310 Ga. App. 326, 327 (713 SE2d 438) (2011) (“[A]ny issue that was raised and resolved in an earlier appeal is the law of the case and is binding on this Court . . . .”) (punctuation omitted); accord Hook v. Bergen, 286 Ga. App. 258, 261 (1) (649 SE2d 313) (2007) (a ruling on an application for discretionary appeal acts as res judicata in later proceedings); see also Jackson v. State, 273 Ga. 320, 320

(540 SE2d 612) (2001) (a party “is not entitled to another bite at the apple by way of a second appeal”). Consequently, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 10/05/2020 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.