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Sidney E. Goodwin, Jr. v. State
Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
ATLANTA,____________________ April 12, 2021
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A21D0267. SIDNEY E. GOODWIN, JR. v. THE STATE.
In 2010, Sidney E. Goodwin, Jr., pled guilty to two counts of aggravated assault. It does not appear that Goodwin filed a direct appeal of his conviction. In 2020, Goodwin filed a motion in which he sought to withdraw his guilty plea and requested an out-of-time appeal. The superior court issued an order dismissing the motion to the extent it sought to withdraw the guilty plea and denying it to the extent it requested an out-of-time appeal. Goodwin then filed the instant timely application for discretionary appeal.1 The superior court’s order is not subject to the discretionary appeal procedure, see OCGA § 5-6-35 (a), and it appears that the order is subject to direct appeal. The denial of a motion for an out-of-time appeal is directly appealable when the criminal conviction at issue has not undergone appellate review. Romano v. State, 297 Ga. 497, 497 (775 SE2d 151) (2015). 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 (660 SE2d 373) (2008); Smith v. State, 283 Ga. 376 (659 SE2d 380) (2008). We will grant a timely discretionary application if the lower court’s order is subject to direct appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (j). Accordingly, this application is hereby GRANTED. Goodwin shall have ten days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal with the superior court, if he has not already done so. The clerk of the superior court is DIRECTED to include a copy of this order in the record
1 Goodwin filed his application in the Supreme Court, which transferred it here.
transmitted to the Court of Appeals.
Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 04/12/2021 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.