Lucky's Appellate Documents

After attending the Black Mothers March on May 11th, 2025, and meeting so many mothers and children who have been traumatized by separation, Lucky decided to immediately redact and post her appellate documents to offer an additional resource and to provide a reminder that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE, especially when parents come together to support one another. Take time to learn more about the Black Mothers March, get involved, and consider contributing to its growth, so we can continue to march.

Explore Lucky's appellate documents for reading, information, and downloading. Representing herself pro se, when she learned she could appeal her custody case, she wrote these documents and successfully appealed her case through the Georgia Court of Appeals on her own.

DISCLAIMER: Lucky is not a licensed attorney. Please do not attempt to replicate or use any of these documents without seeking legal advice from a licensed attorney you trust.

Notice of Appeal

Notice of Appeal: Within 30 days of receiving a final decision from the trial court, Lucky needed to file a notice to the trial court letting them know she was going to appeal. This is that document.

Lucky's Appellant Brief

Lucky's Appellant Brief: This is the Appellant Brief Lucky wrote to the Georgia Court of Appeals. In the case of her appeal, she could not attach any new documents. Prior to filing her appeal, however, and after receiving another adverse decision from the trial court judge, Amanda N. Heath, Lucky submitted a Motion for Reconsideration to the trial court and referenced all history of her case, attaching all prior court orders and decisions. Lucky's Motion for Reconsideration was so detailed that when she filed an appeal, all of the information provided and cited in her Motion for Reconsideration was shared with the Georgia Court of Appeals. Also, this time, Lucky received court transcripts. In the past, Lucky was never given court transcripts, even though she was always required by law to pay for a court reporter to be present and transcribe during the hearings.

Georgia Court of Appeals Opinion #1

Motion for Reconsideration and Supporting Brief to Georgia Court of Appeals: The Georgia Court of Appeals' (GCOA) January 6th, 2025, decision had multiple errors and was written in a way that would have deprived Lucky of her right to address certain issues. Also, because an attorney told Lucky she wanted to see a full reversal, on January 16th, and within the required 10 day timeframe to submit a Motion for Reconsideration (MFR) in her case, Lucky filed a timely MFR to the GCOA.

Motion for Reconsideration and Supporting Brief to Georgia Court of Appeals

Georgia Court of Appeals Opinion #1: This opinion was released by the Georgia Court of Appeals (GCOA) on January 6th, 2025.

• "NOT TO BE OFFICIALLY REPORTED" means the GCOA did not publish this opinion. The GCOA's Clerk told Lucky the opinion was not setting precedent because the GCOA had seen this issue before, so the opinion wasn't published on the Georgia Court of Appeals website, but the opinion could be shared publicly in other places like on this website.

Georgia Court of Appeals Substitution Notice and Opinion #2

Georgia Court of Appeals Substitution Notice and Opinion #2:

• This opinion was released on March 20th, 2025 and is a revision of the Georgia Court of Appeals (GCOA) opinion released on January 6th, 2025.

• Notice the date on the order has not been changed and Lucky's MFR was denied, but, as noted in the Substitution Notice, the errors have been corrected.

• Also, it is important to note that, in Lucky's case, the part of the trial court order that was affirmed by the GCOA is regarding Lucky's visitation arrangement.

  • The visitation arrangement is only an issue in the case because Lucky's daughter was in the custody of a third party without Lucky's consent, without Lucky being found to be unfit, and while Lucky still maintains her parental rights, which is illegal in the State of Georgia and beyond.

  • Therefore, although the GCOA didn't explicitly state this, the portion of the trial court's order the GCOA affirmed is technically moot in Lucky's case because Lucky still maintains legal custody of her child, and Lucky still has the right to decide if she wants her child to live with a third-party.

  • Furthermore, in the State of Georgia, a third-party and a parent cannot legally have joint custody of a child.

If you are on a mobile device and experience issues viewing this page, please try to resolve the issues by viewing the page from a laptop or desktop computer.

Audio Debrief of Lucky's Appellant Brief

Listen to NotebookLM's "Deep Dive" Podcast discussion debriefing Lucky's 32-page Appellant Brief.