Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ June 23, 2020 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A20A1960. GARY DOTCH v. THE STATE.

In 2011, a jury found Gary Dotch guilty of voluntary manslaughter, and the trial court imposed a 20-year prison sentence. We affirmed his judgment of conviction in 2014. Dotch v. State, No. A14A1298 (Oct. 29, 2014).

In 2019, Dotch filed a motion to set aside a void judgment, in which he challenged the legality of his conviction. The trial court dismissed Dotch’s motion on November 25, 2019. On January 10, 2020, Dotch filed a notice of appeal directed to the Supreme Court, which transferred the matter to this Court.1 The State has moved to dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction. We agree that we lack jurisdiction for two reasons.

First, Dotch’s appeal is untimely. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the judgment or trial court order sought to be appealed. 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). Dotch’s notice of appeal was untimely filed 46 days after entry of the order he seeks to appeal.

Second, “a petition to vacate or modify a judgment of conviction is not an appropriate remedy in a criminal case.” Harper v. State, 286 Ga. 216, 218 (1) (686 SE2d 786) (2009). Any appeal from an order denying or dismissing such a petition

Dotch’s notice of appeal is dated December 19, 2019, but was not filed in the trial court until January 10, 2020. or motion must be dismissed. See Roberts v. State, 286 Ga. 532, 532 (690 SE2d 150) (2010); Harper, 286 Ga. at 218 (2).

For each of the above reasons, the State’s motion to dismiss is GRANTED, and this appeal is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 06/23/2020 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.