Ying Chen v. Anna Sander

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________

August 06, 2021 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A21D0414. YING CHEN v. ANNA SANDER.

Anna Sander filed a petition for stalking temporary protective order against her neighbor, Ying Chen. The trial court granted the protective order, and Chen filed a “Motion to Set Aside or in the Alternative Motion for New Trial.” The trial court denied the motion, and Chen filed this application for discretionary appeal.

Chen is entitled to a direct appeal. “Because the protective order did not arise out of a domestic relations matter that would subject it to the discretionary appeal procedures, it is directly appealable.” Bodi v. Ryan, 358 Ga. App. 267, 268 n. 3 (855 SE2d 11) (2021). Here, Chen did not appeal directly from the protective order; she appealed from the trial court’s subsequent order denying her motion for new trial. But the timely filing of a motion for new trial generally extends the deadline for filing a notice of appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). Because Chen filed her application for discretionary appeal within 30 days of the trial court’s order denying her motion for new trial, she is entitled to a direct appeal under OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1).1 See id.

This Court will grant an otherwise timely discretionary application if the lower court’s order is directly appealable and the applicant has not already filed a notice of appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (j). Accordingly, this application is hereby GRANTED. Chen 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, 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,____________________

08/06/2021 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. Trio, LLC v. Buckhead Cmty. Bank, 304 Ga. App. 324, 326 (1) (696 SE2d 372) (2010) (“‘A motion for a new trial is a proper means of seeking a retrial or reexamination, in the same court, of an issue of fact, or of some part or portion thereof, after decision by a jury or a decision by the court thereon.’”).