Demitrius Rucker v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ January 15, 2021

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A21A0757. DEMITRIUS RUCKER v. THE STATE.

In 2018, Demitrius Rucker pleaded guilty to possessing marijuana with intent to distribute and attempting to elude a police officer, and his sentence included probation. On August 18, 2020, the trial court entered an order revoking Rucker’s probation. Rucker filed a notice of appeal on December 7, 2020. We lack jurisdiction for two reasons. First, an application for discretionary appeal is required to appeal orders revoking probation. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (5); Todd v. State, 236 Ga. App. 757, 758 (513 SE2d 287) (1999) (holding that where the underlying subject matter is probation revocation, the discretionary appeal procedure applies). Second, even if Rucker had a right of direct appeal, his notice of appeal was not timely filed. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the order sought to be appealed. OCGA § 5- 6-38 (a). 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) (452 SE2d 756) (1995). Rucker's notice of appeal, which was filed 111 days after the trial court's revocation order, is thus untimely. For these reasons, we lack jurisdiction over this direct appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 01/15/2021 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.