Frank Kenneth Jones v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ February 16, 2017 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A17A1104. FRANK KENNETH JONES v. THE STATE. Frank Kenneth Jones was convicted of aggravated child molestation. Thereafter, he filed a timely motion for new trial, which the trial court denied on August 9, 2016. On September 9, 2016, Jones filed a notice of appeal. Because the notice of appeal was untimely filed, we lack jurisdiction. To be timely, a notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the order on appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction upon this Court. See Rowland v. State, 264 Ga. 872 (1) (452 SE2d 756) (1995). Because Jones filed his notice of appeal 31 days after entry of the order he seeks to appeal, it is untimely. Consequently, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction. Because Jones is represented by counsel, he is informed of the following in accordance with Rowland v. State, supra at 875-876 (2): This appeal has been dismissed because of your counsel’s failure to file a timely notice of appeal. If you still wish to appeal, you may request the trial court to grant an out-of-time appeal. If the trial court grants an out-of-time appeal, you will have 30 days from that grant in which to instigate an appeal. If the trial court denies your request for an out- of-time appeal, you may appeal that denial by filing a notice of appeal within 30 days of the denial. If you no longer wish to appeal your conviction, you need not do anything else. The Clerk of Court is directed to send a copy of this order to Jones and to Jones’s attorney, and the latter is also directed to send a copy to Jones. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 02/16/2017 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.