Opinion
A21A1166
08-11-2021
STATE OF GEORGIA EX REL. ANTHONY BURTON, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY, EASTERN JUDICIAL CIRCUIT v. DIASHAY BECKETT.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
The State filed a civil complaint for forfeiture of $7, 927 in U.S. currency and a 2014 BMW, naming Diashay Beckett, the title owner of the BMW, and Rashamel Brown, the person who was in possession of the BMW when it was seized containing drugs and money, as purported claimants. The trial court entered an order denying the complaint as to the BMW and granting Beckett's motion to compel the return of her BMW. The State then filed this direct appeal. We, however, lack jurisdiction.
In the record, her name is also spelled "Becket."
"Generally, an order is final and appealable when it leaves no issues remaining to be resolved, constitutes the court's final ruling on the merits of the action, and leaves the parties with no further recourse in the trial court." State v. White, 354 Ga.App. 214, 215 (840 S.E.2d 697) (2020) (citation and punctuation omitted). In this case, the State sought forfeiture of $7, 927, as well as the BMW. The trial court's order does not dispose of the $7, 927. Because the order appealed from is not a final order, the State was required to follow the interlocutory application procedures in OCGA § 5-6-34 (b). See White, 354 Ga. at 216.
The State's failure to follow the interlocutory application procedures deprives this Court of jurisdiction over this direct appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.