Court Filings

The Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed the juvenile court's order discontinuing reunification services and approving a permanency plan of adoption for two minor children after finding the parents subjected the younger child, A. A., to chronic physical abuse. Medical evidence showed A. A. suffered twelve fractures in various healing stages; a child-abuse pediatrician concluded the injuries resulted from repeated adult-inflicted pulling and twisting. The parents invoked their Fifth Amendment privilege at the nonreunification hearing, and the court drew adverse inferences from that refusal. The appellate court held that the evidence met the clear-and-convincing standard for nonreunification and aggravated circumstances.

The Court of Appeals dismissed Ergin Tek’s direct appeal of a trial court order that removed a mechanic’s lien and found slander of title because the case was not final. The trial court reserved damages and attorney-fee issues for a later hearing, so the case remained pending. The Court explained that Tek needed either a final judgment, an express determination that there is no just reason for delay, or compliance with interlocutory appeal procedures (including a certificate of immediate review) to obtain appellate jurisdiction. Because Tek did not follow those procedures, the appeal was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

The Court of Appeals dismissed Allied Property Group, LLC’s application for interlocutory review as untimely. Allied sought review after the trial court dismissed all its claims and granted a certificate of immediate review on March 17, 2026. Georgia law requires an application to this Court within ten days of that certificate, but Allied filed on March 31, 2026—four days late. Because compliance with OCGA § 5-6-34(b) is jurisdictional, the Court lacked authority to consider the late application and dismissed it, leaving Allied to await final judgment to pursue an appeal.

The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed Tamera Montgomery’s appeal of a trial court order granting summary judgment to Milton Ruben Toyota of Augusta because Montgomery failed to file her appellant brief by the April 13, 2026 deadline and did not request an extension. The appeal had been docketed March 23, 2026, and under Court of Appeals Rule 23(a) the court dismissed for failure to prosecute. The order is procedural — the appellate court did not address the merits of the summary judgment ruling.

The Georgia Court of Appeals granted the appellee's motion to remand the case Downey Trees, Inc. v. Stephens to the State Court of Forsyth County. The clerk was ordered to remand the matter, and the order allows either party to file a new notice of appeal within 30 days after resolution of a pending motion to enforce settlement. The decision is procedural and simply returns the case to the state court for further proceedings rather than addressing the underlying merits.

The Court of Appeals dismissed Reginald Charles Harvey’s appeal from various trial-court orders in a dispute with U.S. Nature-Invest Holdings, LLC because the notice of appeal was filed late. The underlying dispute began with the plaintiff’s declaratory judgment in January 2025 and multiple post-judgment motions by Harvey, the last of which the trial court denied on February 6, 2026. Harvey filed his notice of appeal on March 16, 2026 — 38 days after the February 6 order — and the Court of Appeals held it lacked jurisdiction because timely filing of a notice of appeal is mandatory under state law.

The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal in Phan v. Lee because appellants failed to file their enumerations of error and brief by the court-imposed deadline and did not request an extension. The appeal had been docketed March 6, 2026, and appellants were required to file within 20 days (by March 26, 2026). Citing Court of Appeals Rules 7 and 23(a) and precedent (Britton v. Fed. Nat’l Mortg. Ass’n), the court ordered dismissal on April 21, 2026 for noncompliance with filing requirements.

The Court of Appeals vacated and remanded a trial-court award of $123,740.62 in attorney fees against plaintiff’s counsel in a medical-malpractice case. The trial court had found counsel abused discovery by failing to disclose a post-mortem pacemaker report and awarded fees under OCGA §§ 9-15-14(b) and 9-11-37(d). The appellate court held the report was discoverable and counsel had a duty to supplement, but concluded the § 9-11-37(d) award was invalid because the trial court lacked jurisdiction when it entered that portion of the sanction. The § 9-15-14(b) award was authorized but vacated because the court failed to explain how it calculated the exact fee amount, requiring remand for proper factfinding.

The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s dismissal of Smart Venture Capital’s appeal and ruled that the trial court erred in denying Smart Venture’s motion to set aside a default judgment. The Association sued the property owners and added Smart Venture (a secured creditor) but failed to effect service on Smart Venture’s registered agent. The court held the certified-mail evidence lacked a required postmark and there was no proof Smart Venture received or signed for the mailing, so service was not perfected and the default judgment was void for lack of personal jurisdiction.

The Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to Real Dream Investors, LLC in a dispute over redemption of a tax deed purchased by Monarch Holdings Group, LLC. Monarch bought the property at a tax sale and published a barment notice giving April 16, 2022 as the redemption deadline; the Court held that state time-computation rules extended that deadline to Monday, April 18, 2022. Real Dream timely tendered a cashier’s check and deed on April 18 by attempted personal delivery and overnight mailing after Monarch could not accept delivery, and Monarch’s rejection waived any further tender, extinguishing its tax deed.

The Georgia Court of Appeals considered an Application for Discretionary Appeal filed by Staff Care 247, LLC (A26D0450) in a case identified by superior court number SPCV2400123. On April 21, 2026, the Court issued an order denying the application. The document is a short administrative order certifying that the discretionary appeal will not be heard by the Court of Appeals; it contains no further explanation or legal reasoning.

The Georgia Court of Appeals issued an order on April 20, 2026 denying the appellant Dorrin Johnson's emergency motion for a stay of enforcement pending appeal in the matter captioned Johnson v. Molleda. The court declined to pause enforcement of the underlying judgment or order while the appeal proceeds. The decision is a brief administrative disposition denying the requested temporary relief without extended explanation in the excerpt provided.

The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal in Pimentel v. Morquecho because the appellant failed to file a required brief and enumerations of error by the court's deadline of April 13, 2026. The court issued a formal order on April 20, 2026, noting the missed filing and entered dismissal as the disposition. No opinion on the merits was reached because the procedural default (failure to file required appellate documents) warranted dismissal.

The Georgia Court of Appeals considered an application for discretionary appeal in the case Samuel Kwushue v. City of Atlanta and denied the application. The order is brief: the Court of Appeals reviewed the application and entered an order denying it on April 20, 2026. No opinion or reasoning is provided in the document; the entry is a procedural disposition that leaves the lower-court decision in place and does not grant further review by this court.

The Georgia Court of Appeals granted an application for interlocutory appeal by Triduum Associates, LLC and others in their case against Holly Springs, Georgia. The court's order allows the appellant to file a Notice of Appeal within 10 days and directs the superior court clerk to include this order in the record sent to the Court of Appeals. The decision is procedural: it merely authorizes taking an immediate appeal before final judgment and sets short timing and transmission instructions for the record.

The Court of Appeals dismissed Trimen Enterprises, Inc.'s appeal seeking review of the trial court's refusal to allow an amended answer and the entry of default judgment against Trimen. The court held it lacked jurisdiction because the case remains pending below as other claims against a co-defendant were unresolved, and the trial court did not enter a certificate under OCGA § 9-11-54(b). Because Trimen did not follow the interlocutory-appeal procedures in OCGA § 5-6-34(b), including obtaining a certificate of immediate review, the appeal was premature and must be dismissed.

The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed a pro se appeal by Crandall Postell from a probate court order approving sale of estate real property because Postell remained represented by counsel when he filed the notice of appeal. The record contained no probate-court order allowing attorney Daniel Wilder to withdraw, and Georgia precedent bars a party from simultaneously being represented and proceeding pro se. Because a pro se notice filed while represented is a legal nullity, the appellate court concluded it lacked jurisdiction and dismissed the appeal.

The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal by homeowner Chinh Vo challenging the denial of his motion to set aside a May 2025 final judgment in favor of Bellmoore Park Homeowners Association. The court held it lacked jurisdiction because appeals from denials of motions to set aside under OCGA § 9-11-60(d) must proceed by discretionary appeal application under OCGA § 5-6-35(a)(8),(b). Because compliance with the discretionary-appeal procedure is jurisdictional, the court dismissed the direct appeal for failure to follow the required procedure.

The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed Ed Hunter's appeal from the City of South Fulton because the appellant failed to comply with docketing notice and Court of Appeals Rule 23(a) by not filing an enumeration of errors and brief within the required time. The court had previously ordered those filings by April 6, 2026; they were still not filed as of the April 17, 2026 order. Relying on its procedural rules, the court deemed the appeal abandoned and entered dismissal.

The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed Scott Bolles’s appeal of a trial court award of attorney fees to GEICO Indemnity Company because the appellant failed to pursue the required discretionary-review procedure. Under Georgia law, orders granting fees under OCGA § 9-15-14 must be appealed by application for discretionary review; ordinary appeals are not permitted. Because Bolles did not follow that jurisdictional procedure, the Court concluded it lacked authority to hear the case and dismissed the appeal without reaching the merits of the fee award.

The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed an interlocutory application filed by Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat seeking review of a trial court order that denied his summary-judgment immunity defense in a lawsuit by Ralph Gershom challenging a sheriff's deed. The court concluded the superior-court order is directly appealable under new OCGA § 5-6-34(a)(15), effective July 1, 2025, so an interlocutory application was unnecessary. Because Sheriff Labat already filed a notice of appeal docketed as Case No. A26A1678, the Court dismissed the duplicative application as superfluous and directed further filings to proceed under the existing appeal number.

The Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed the superior court’s decision upholding the Georgia Public Service Commission’s approval allowing Sandersville Railroad Company to condemn privately owned land to build a new spur. The Court found substantial evidence supporting the PSC’s factual findings that the spur would function as a channel of trade and aid the railroad’s operations, which qualifies as a statutory “public use.” The Court also rejected landowners’ complaints about subpoena enforcement and attorney-fee claims, and it upheld the superior court’s discretionary stay of condemnation proceedings pending appeal.

The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed McGarvey-Wilkins’s appeal from a Georgia State-Wide Business Court order denying her request to proceed as an indigent. The appellant repeatedly failed to file a compliant affidavit of indigency, pay the filing fee, or provide an adequate certificate of service despite the Court’s orders to do so. Because she did not file a timely initial brief and did not show good cause for the defaults required by Court of Appeals Rule 23(a), the Court dismissed the appeal for noncompliance with procedural rules.

The Georgia Court of Appeals considered an Application for Discretionary Appeal filed by Catherine Corkren in case A26D0426 concerning LC No. 19CV0611. After review, the court issued a short administrative order denying the application. The document contains no substantive opinion explaining the court's reasoning beyond the single-word disposition denying the request for discretionary review.

The Georgia Court of Appeals issued a short order denying the appellant's motion made under Court of Appeals Rule 40(b) in case A26E0180, Fontes v. Bloom. The order contains no extended explanation or factual findings — it simply states the motion is denied and is certified as an official extract of the court minutes. There is no discussion of the grounds for denial or any further relief granted.

The Georgia Court of Appeals denied Andrea Plummer’s emergency motion seeking a stay of enforcement while her application for discretionary appeal is considered. The court issued a short order on April 15, 2026, declining to pause enforcement of the underlying judgment or order pending further appellate review. No extended reasoning or citation of law appears in the order; it is a procedural disposition denying temporary relief requested by the movant.

The Court of Appeals dismissed Antique Fields’ application for discretionary review of a magistrate court writ of possession because the application was filed too late. The magistrate court entered judgment on 2026-02-27, and Antique Fields filed for review on 2026-03-24, which exceeded the seven-day deadline for filing under Georgia law. The Court explained that its jurisdiction to review magistrate court orders exists only after review by a state or superior court, and because the application was untimely and filing deadlines are jurisdictional, the Court could not transfer the matter and therefore dismissed the application.

The Georgia Court of Appeals denied FPL Foods, LLC's application for discretionary appeal in the case FPL Foods, LLC et al v. Terrie Martinez-Tello. The order is brief: the court considered the application and denied it, which means the intermediate court's decision stands and the Court of Appeals will not review the matter on the discretionary docket. No substantive reasoning or opinion explaining the denial is provided in the document.

The Court of Appeals granted the appellant's motion to remand so the trial court can consider a request to incorporate records from two separate cases into the record of this appeal. Previously, the court denied the appellant's motions to supplement the record because there was no trial-court order adopting or incorporating the other cases' records into this case. The remand allows the trial court to rule on a motion to incorporate those documents; if the trial court grants it and the appellant timely files a new notice of appeal, the matter will be re-docketed as a new appeal after the record is transmitted.

The Georgia Court of Appeals issued an order on April 13, 2026, denying Maria Theresa Pagano's emergency motion for a stay pending appeal in her case against Citizens Bank, N.A. The order is brief and procedural: the court considered the emergency motion and declined to grant a stay. No accompanying opinion explaining the court's reasoning or factual findings was provided in the document.