Neal v. State, 28683

Decision Date16 April 1974
Docket NumberNo. 28683,28683
Citation205 S.E.2d 284,232 Ga. 96
PartiesJames Oliver NEAL v. The STATE.
CourtGeorgia Supreme Court

James Oliver Neal, pro se.

Eldridge W. Fleming, Dist. Atty., Hogansville, Arthur K. Bolton, Atty. Gen., David L. G. King, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Atlanta, for appellee.

Syllabus Opinion by the Court

INGRAM, Justice.

The appellant, an inmate of the Reidsville State Penitentiary in Tattnall County, filed a motion in forma pauperis in the Superior Court of Meriwether County seeking an appeal from his conviction and sentence for murder in that court approximately seven years prior to the filing of the motion. Appellant also sought appointment of counsel to prosecute the appeal in his behalf. The trial court 'overruled and dismissed' the motion in an order finding that at the time of the conviction and sentence appellant had been 'properly advised and represented by capable counsel and that he through counsel entered into a consent verdict, which amounts to a plea of guilty,' and that he was otherwise not entitled to an appeal. The present appeal is from this order.

A notice of appeal must be filed within thirty days after entry of the appealable judgment or within thirty days after the entry of an order disposing of a motion for new trial. Code Ann. § 6-803(a). The time for filing such notice may be extended once by the court for an additional thirty days. Code Ann. § 6-804. Unless the notice of appeal is timely filed in accordance with the statute, this court does not have jurisdiction to review the original adverse judgment on appeal. Jordan v. Caldwell, 229 Ga. 343, 344, 191 S.E.2d 530.

A timely-filed direct appeal will lie from a judgment entered on a consent verdict or guilty plea. See, e.g., Smith v. State, 231 Ga. 23, 200 S.E.2d 119. Under the Habeas Corpus Act of 1967 (Code Ann. § 50-127), there is provided an adequate post-conviction remedy to a prisoner seeking relief upon a claim arising from the substantial denial or rights guaranteed by the federal or state constitutions or by the statute laws of the state, including, as alleged in the present case, the denial of the right of appeal or of the effective assistance of counsel on appeal. See McAuliffe v. Rutledge, 231 Ga. 1, 200 S.E.2d 100 (1973) and 231 Ga. 745, 204 S.E.2d 141.

The motion in the present case, being in the nature of a petition for the writ of habeas corpus, should have been filed in the superior court wherein the petitioner is being detained, not in...

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20 cases
  • Schoicket v. State
    • United States
    • Georgia Supreme Court
    • November 2, 2021
    ...infringe on competing interests.").The dissents correctly point out that, in departing from the holding of Neal v. State , 232 Ga. 96, 205 S.E.2d 284 (1974), we made the policy decision to create a new out-of-time appeal procedural vehicle, and that we elected in Collier to leave that vehic......
  • Collier v. State, S19A0658
    • United States
    • Georgia Supreme Court
    • October 21, 2019
    ...of time appeal[.]").Shortly thereafter, defendants began filing out-of-time appeal motions in Georgia’s trial courts. In Neal v. State , 232 Ga. 96, 205 S.E.2d 284 (1974), we held that a defendant’s motion filed in the trial court based upon a claim arising from "the denial of the right of ......
  • Cook v. State
    • United States
    • Georgia Supreme Court
    • March 15, 2022
    ...to raise that—and any other—constitutional claim. Defendants in Georgia began doing so, and in 1974 this Court held in Neal v. State , 232 Ga. 96, 205 S.E.2d 284 (1974), that a defendant could not seek an out-of-time appeal from his conviction by motion in the trial court, explaining that h......
  • Schoicket v. State
    • United States
    • Georgia Supreme Court
    • November 2, 2021
    ...unnecessarily infringe on competing interests."). The dissents correctly point out that, in departing from the holding of Neal v. State, 232 Ga. 96 (205 S.E.2d 284) (1974), we made the policy decision to create a new out-of-time appeal procedural vehicle, and that we elected in Collier to l......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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