Opinion
A22D0065
10-06-2021
TIMOTHY LITTLEJOHN v. SYLVIA GOLDMAN.
Inmate Timothy Littlejohn sought to proceed in forma pauperis and file a pro se complaint against Sylvia Goldman. On August 2, 2021, the trial court entered an order denying the filing of the complaint, pursuant to OCGA § 9-15-2 (d), on the basis that the pleadings showed such a complete absence of any justiciable issue of law or fact that it could not be reasonably believed that the court could grant relief against any party named in the pleadings. On September 20, 2021, Littlejohn filed this application for discretionary appeal. We lack jurisdiction.
An application for discretionary appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the order to be appealed. OCGA § 5-6-35 (d). The requirements of OCGA § 5-6-35 are jurisdictional, and this Court cannot accept an application for appeal not made in compliance therewith. See Crosson v. Conway, 291 Ga. 220, 220 (1) (728 S.E.2d 617) (2012); Boyle v. State, 190 Ga.App. 734, 734 (380 S.E.2d 57) (1989). Littlejohn filed this application 49 days after entry of the order he seeks to appeal. Accordingly, the application is untimely and is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.
To the extent Littlejohn claims that the untimeliness of his application should be excused because he allegedly did not receive proper notice of the entry of the trial court's order, such a claim is unavailing for several reasons. First, although Littlejohn asserts that the order has a "time stamp" of July 16, 2021, the record does not support this assertion, as the date above the trial court judge's signature on the order is July 30, 2021. Second, Littlejohn apparently signed his application on August 12, 2021, indicating that he promptly received notice of the entry of the order. Third, if notice of the entry of an appealable order is not given, the losing party's remedy is to file a motion to set aside, and the trial court should grant the motion and re-enter the order, whereupon the time to appeal would begin to run again. See Syed v. Merchant's Square Office Buildings, LLC, 354 Ga.App. 365, 366-367 (841 S.E.2d 8) (2020).