Georgia Court of Appeals, 2018

Valerie Martin v. Joseph Peluso

Valerie Martin v. Joseph Peluso
Georgia Court of Appeals · Decided April 20, 2018

Valerie Martin v. Joseph Peluso

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ April 20, 2018 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A18D0397. VALERIE MARTIN v. JOSEPH PELUSO.

Valerie Martin has filed an application for discretionary appeal from a Stalking Twelve Month Protective Order. The order, however, is subject to direct appeal.

Pursuant to OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (2), a party must follow the discretionary appeal procedure to obtain review in a domestic relations case, including those that involve family violence. See Schmidt v. Schmidt, 270 Ga. 461 (1) (510 SE2d 810) (1999). “[T]he term ‘family violence’ means . . . acts between past or present spouses, persons who are parents of the same child, parents and children, stepparents and stepchildren, foster parents and foster children, or other persons living or formerly living in the same household[.]” OCGA § 19-13-1. Because this case concerns Martin’s actions toward Joseph Peluso, a person with whom she does not have a familial relationship, it is not a family violence case within the meaning of OCGA § 19-13-1, nor a domestic relations case within the meaning of OCGA § 5-6- (a) (2). Moreover, we have consistently treated temporary stalking protective orders as directly appealable. See Thornton v. Hemphill, 300 Ga. App. 647 (686 SE2d 263) (2009); Rawcliffe v. Rawcliffe, 283 Ga. App. 264 (641 SE2d 255) (2007); McKlin v. Ivory, 266 Ga. App. 298 (596 SE2d 673) (2004); Johnson v. Smith, 260 Ga. App. 722 (580 SE2d 674) (2003). Martin, therefore, was not required to follow the discretionary appeal procedure to obtain appellate review.

We will grant an otherwise timely application for discretionary appeal if the lower court’s order is subject to direct appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (j). Accordingly, this application is hereby GRANTED, and Martin shall have ten days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal with the trial court. If she has already filed a notice of appeal in the trial court, she need not file a second notice. The clerk of the trial court is DIRECTED to include a copy of this order in the record transmitted to the Court of Appeals.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 04/20/2018 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.

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