Jordan v. State

A Newton County jury convicted Nathaniel Jordan of possession of cocaine, OCGA § 16-13-30 a, and giving a false name to a police officer, OCGA § 16-10-25. Following a hearing, the trial court denied Jordan’s out-of-time motion for new trial. Jordan filed this appeal, contending that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that the trial court erred in denying his request for a continuance to secure other counsel.

1. “It is the duty of this court to raise the question of its jurisdiction in all cases in which there may be any doubt as to the existence of such jurisdiction.” Citations and punctuation omitted. Rowland v. State, 264 Ga. 872 1 452 SE2d 756 1995. In this case, the trial court expressly ruled on—and denied—Jordan’s “extraordinary motion for new trial.” An appeal from the denial of an extraordinary motion for new trial must be brought in accordance with the discretionary appeal procedure. OCGA § 5-6-35 a 7, b, and d. Failure to follow this procedure where required deprives this Court of jurisdiction to entertain the appeal. Pitts v. State, 254 Ga. 298 328 SE2d 732 1985. Cf. Barnes v. State, 243 Ga. App. 703, 704 SE2d 2000 order denying a motion for out-of-time appeal is directly appealable. Jordan filed a notice of appeal rather than an application for discretionary appeal under OCGA § 5-6-35 a 7. We therefore must examine whether we have jurisdiction to hear Jordan’s appeal.