Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ April 27, 2022 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A22A0682. EDWARD TYRONE RIDLEY v. DAVID ATKINS.

On October 6, 2021, the trial court entered an order dismissing an “Expedited Emergency Petition for a Writ of Mandamus” filed by prisoner Edward Tyrone Ridley against David Atkins. Ridley then filed both an application for a discretionary appeal and a notice of appeal from the order. We denied Ridley’s discretionary application on the merits. See Case No. A22D0113 (Nov. 12, 2021). This case is the direct appeal, which Ridley filed on October 19, 2021.

This Court’s denial of Ridley’s discretionary application constitutes a decision on the merits. See Elrod v. Sunflower Meadows Dev., LLC, 322 Ga. App. 666, 670 (4) (745 SE2d 846) (2013) (“when this Court examines a request for a discretionary appeal, it acts in an error-correcting mode such that a denial of the application is on the merits, and the order denying the application is res judicata with respect to the substance of the requested review”) (punctuation omitted). Accordingly, Ridley is barred from challenging the October 6 order by way of this direct appeal. See Northwest Social & Civic Club v. Franklin, 276 Ga. 859, 860 (583 SE2d 858) (2003); Hook v. Bergen, 286 Ga. App. 258, 261 (1) (649 SE2d 313) (2007). This direct appeal is therefore DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 04/27/2022 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.