Opinion
A23A0335
10-11-2022
SHANTRICIA ROBINSON v. THE STATE.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
Shantricia Robinson was arrested in April 2020 and subsequently indicted on charges of cruelty to children in the first degree, battery/family violence, and obstruction of an officer. In August 2020 and April 2021, Robinson filed motions for a speedy trial, citing her constitutional right to the same. On May 31, 2022, Robinson filed a motion to dismiss the charges against her based on an alleged violation of her constitutional right to a speedy trial. The trial court denied that motion, and Robinson filed this direct appeal. We, however, lack jurisdiction.
In June 2021, Robinson was indicted on these same charges.
In Sosniak v. State, 292 Ga. 35, 40 (2) (734 S.E.2d 362) (2012), the Supreme Court of Georgia held that a defendant has no right to a direct appeal from the denial of a pretrial constitutional speedy trial motion. Instead, a defendant wishing to appeal the denial of a motion for acquittal based on a constitutional speedy trial violation must comply with the interlocutory appeal procedures set forth in OCGA § 5-6-34 (b). Id. See also Johnson v. State, 300 Ga. 252, 257 (3) (794 S.E.2d 60) (2016). Those procedures include timely seeking a certificate of immediate review in the superior court and thereafter filing an application for an interlocutory appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-34 (b). And where, as here, the interlocutory appeal requirements apply, the failure to comply with the same deprives this Court of jurisdiction. See Islamkhan v. Khan, 299 Ga. 548, 551 (2) (787 S.E.2d 731) (2016); see also Settendown Public Utility, LLC v. Waterscape Utility, LLC, 324 Ga.App. 652, 653 (751 S.E.2d 463) (2013) (the "interlocutory appeal statute is not a run-of-the-mill procedural provision. It is a jurisdictional law by which the General Assembly has limited the authority of Georgia's appellate courts to hear certain cases.") (citation, punctuation and emphasis omitted.) Robinson's failure to comply with the interlocutory appeal procedures deprives us of jurisdiction to consider this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.
"[T]he denial of a motion for acquittal on statutory speedy trial grounds is immediately appealable." Johnson v. State, 300 Ga. 252, 257 (3) (794 S.E.2d 60) (2016). Robinson, however, never filed a statutory speedy trial demand pursuant to OCGA § 17-7-170 (a).