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Melissa Lee Bradshaw v. Christopher Daniel Bradshaw
Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
ATLANTA,____________________ December 21, 2021
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
A22A0708. MELISSA LEE BRADSHAW v. CHRISTOPHER DANIEL BRADSHAW.
On September 14, 2021, the trial court entered an order in the underlying modification of child custody case awarding Christopher Daniel Bradshaw attorney fees under OCGA § 9-15-14 (a) and (b) and denying Melissa Lee Bradshaw’s request for attorney fees and motion for a parent coordinator. Melissa then filed both an application for discretionary appeal and a notice of appeal from the order. We denied Melissa’s discretionary application on the merits. See Case No. A22D0102 (Nov. 12, 2021). This is the direct appeal, which she filed on October 22, 2021. This Court’s denial of Melissa’s discretionary application constitutes a decision on the merits. See Elrod v. Sunflower Meadows Dev., LLC, 322 Ga. App. 666, 670 (4) (745 SE2d 846) (2013) (“[W]hen this Court examines a request for a discretionary appeal, it acts in an error-correcting mode such that a denial of the application is on the merits, and the order denying the application is res judicata with respect to the substance of the requested review.”) (punctuation omitted). Thus, Melissa’s direct appeal from the same order is barred. See Northwest Social & Civic Club v. Franklin, 276 Ga. 859, 860 (583 SE2d 858) (2003); Hook v. Bergen, 286 Ga. App. 258, 261 (1) (649 SE2d 313) (2007). Moreover, a notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the trial court judgment or 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. Rowland v. State, 264 Ga. 872, 872 (1) (452 SE2d 756) (1995). Because Melissa’s notice of appeal was filed 38 days after the order she seeks to appeal, we
lack jurisdiction. For these reasons, this direct appeal is hereby DISMISSED.
Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 12/21/2021 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.