Hughes v. Sikes

• Decision Date: 07 May 2001
• Docket Number: No. S01A0144.,S01A0144.
• Citation: 273 Ga. 804,546 S.E.2d 518
• Parties: HUGHES v. SIKES.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

546 S.E.2d 518

273 Ga. 804

HUGHES v. SIKES.

No. S01A0144.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

May 7, 2001.

Jeffery Hughes, Pro Se.

Thurbert E. Baker, Atty. Gen., Paula K. Smith, Senior Asst. Atty. Gen., Tammie J. Philbrick, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

CARLEY, Justice.

After a jury found Jeffery Hughes guilty of malice murder, the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment. In Hughes v. State, 251 Ga. 393, 306 S.E.2d 242 (1983), this Court granted appellate counsel's Anders motion and dismissed the appeal as frivolous. Hughes later filed a pro se habeas corpus petition. On April 29, 1999, the habeas court denied the petition. Hughes mailed to the clerk's office a timely notice of appeal, and requested filing. On May 20, 1999, however, the deputy clerk returned the notice of appeal to Hughes, accompanied by a letter informing him that he must correct and resubmit it along with a certificate of service. Thereafter, he apparently resubmitted the notice of appeal, but the clerk declined to file it because it was untimely. Hughes filed in this Court a timely application for a certificate of probable cause. Since his application did not contain a notice of appeal, we requested the clerk to transmit it to us. Upon receipt of the notice of appeal submitted on May 10, we granted a certificate of probable cause in order to determine whether the habeas court clerk's office erred by refusing to file that document. 1. "In habeas corpus cases, the General Assembly has determined that the unsuccessful petitioner must timely file both a notice of appeal and an application for a certificate of probable cause...." (Emphasis in original.) Fullwood v. Sivley, 271 Ga. 248, 250, 517 S.E.2d 511 ( 1999). Although the notice of appeal must be filed in the court below, this Court alone has the authority to determine whether such filing is sufficient to invoke its jurisdiction. See generally Saxton v. Coastal Dialysis & Medical Clinic, 267 Ga. 177, 476 S.E.2d 587 (1996). In making this determination, we are bound by OCGA § 5-6-30, which provides that the Appellate Practice Act (APA) "shall be liberally construed so as to bring about a decision on the merits of every case appealed and to avoid dismissal of any case ..., except as may be specifically referred to in this article." Insofar as the sufficiency of the notice of appeal is concerned, the APA specifically provides

[w]here it is apparent from the notice of appeal ... what judgment or judgments were appealed from ..., the appeal shall be considered in accordance therewith notwithstanding that the notice of appeal fails to specify definitely the judgment appealed from....

OCGA § 5-6-48(f). Consistent with these enactments, we have consistently "follow[ed] the route ... toward less technical and more expeditious handling of cases involving minor procedural errors." Steele v. Cincinnati Ins. Co., 252 Ga. 58, 59-60, 311 S.E.2d 470 (1984).

The habeas court clerk's duty to file a notice of appeal is ministerial in nature, and it was beyond her duty or power to concern herself with the legal viability of a notice presented to her for filing. See Orr v. Culpepper, 161 Ga.App. 801, 804, 288 S.E.2d 898 (1982). By rejecting...