Jairus B. Moore v. Dekalb County Superior Court Judges ( 2024 )

Court of Appeals
of the State of Georgia
ATLANTA,____________________
June 26, 2024
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
A24A1649. JAIRUS B. MOORE v. DEKALB COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT
JUDGES.
Jairus Moore currently is serving a lengthy prison sentence following his 1998
convictions for rape, aggravated sodomy, and other crimes. In 2023, Moore filed a
petition for a writ of mandamus, seeking to compel the trial court to rule on two post-
conviction motions he had filed. On January 4, 2024, the trial court dismissed the
mandamus petition as moot on the ground that both of Moore’s post-conviction
motions had been denied the month before. Moore then filed both an application for
discretionary review, and, on February 8, 2024, a notice of appeal. We dismissed
Moore’s discretionary application as moot, see Moore v. DeKalb Superior Court Judges,
Case No. A24D0223 (Feb. 7, 2024), and the direct appeal has been docketed as the
current case, No. A24A1649. We lack jurisdiction for multiple reasons.
First, under the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, an appeal in a civil action
filed by a prisoner must be initiated by filing an application for discretionary review.
See OCGA § 42-12-8, cross-referencing OCGA § 5-6-35; Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga.
489, 490 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). “Compliance with the discretionary appeals
procedure is jurisdictional.” Smoak v. Dept. of Human Resources, 221 Ga. App. 257,
257 (471 SE2d 60) (1996). Moore has no right of direct appeal here because (a) he was
incarcerated when he filed this civil action and (b) we denied his application for
discretionary review. See Jones, 267 Ga. at 490-491; Moore, Case No. A24D0223.
Second, even if a direct appeal were proper in this case, this appeal is untimely.
A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the judgment or trial court
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 appellate jurisdiction on this
Court. Perlman v. Perlman, 318 Ga. App. 731, 739 (4) (734 SE2d 560) (2012). Moore’s
notice of appeal was untimely filed 35 days after entry of the order he seeks to appeal.
Finally, our ruling in Case No. A24D0223 that the issues raised in Moore’s
mandamus petition are moot renders the current appeal barred by the law of the case.
See Ross v. State, 310 Ga. App. 326, 327 (713 SE2d 438) (2011) (“[A]ny issue that was
raised and resolved in an earlier appeal is the law of the case and is binding on this
Court . . . .”) (punctuation omitted); accord Hook v. Bergen, 286 Ga. App. 258, 261 (1)
(649 SE2d 313) (2007) (a ruling on an application for discretionary review acts as res
judicata in later proceedings); see also Jackson v. State, 273 Ga. 320, 320 (540 SE2d
612) (2001) (a party “is not entitled to another bite at the apple by way of a second
appeal”). For the above reasons, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED for lack of
jurisdiction.
Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________
06/26/2024
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.