Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ August 27, 2019 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A19A2443. JAMIE JACKSON v. THE STATE.

In June 2002, Jamie Jackson entered an Alford1 plea to rape and was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison. The record contains no indication that Jackson filed a direct appeal from his judgment of conviction. In November 2018, Jackson filed a “Motion to Vacate an Illegal Conviction and Sentence,” which the trial court denied on December 11, 2018. Jackson filed a notice of appeal of that order on July 8, 2019.

We lack jurisdiction.

A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of the entry of an appealable judgment. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer appellate jurisdiction on this Court. Rowland v. State, 264 Ga. 872, 872 (1) (452 SE2d 756) (1995). Pretermitting whether a direct appeal may lie from the December 11, 2018 order, Jackson’s notice of appeal was

North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U. S. 25 (91 SCt 160, 27 LE2d 162) (1970). untimely filed 214 days after entry of the order sought to be appealed. Consequently, we lack jurisdiction over Jackson’s appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 08/27/2019 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.