Summary
granting request for belated appeal from denial of postconviction relief where appellant's attorney accepted full responsibility for untimely filing
Summary of this case from In re BabsonOpinion
CR 98-922
Opinion delivered October 22, 1998
APPEAL ERROR — MOTION FOR BELATED APPEAL — GOOD CAUSE FOR GRANTING. — An admission by an attorney for a criminal defendant that the notice of appeal was not timely filed due to a mistake on his or her part is good cause to grant a motion for belated appeal.
Motion for Belated Appeal; granted.
Marsha Basinger, for appellant.
No response.
Appellant Donnie Whitney filed a motion for belated appeal from the order denying his motion for postconviction relief pursuant to A.R.Cr.P. Rule 37. We previously denied the motion because Appellant's attorney, Marsha Basinger, did not admit fault in failing to timely file the notice of appeal. See Whitney v. State, 334 Ark. 241, 973 S.W.2d 481 (1998) ( per curiam). We indicated, however, that we would grant the motion if Appellant's attorney filed within thirty days a motion and affidavit accepting full responsibility for not timely filing the notice of appeal. Appellant's attorney has assumed full responsibility for the error in an amended motion filed on October 5, 1998.
[1] We find that such error, admittedly made by the attorney for a criminal defendant, is good cause to grant the motion. See Johnson v. State, 332 Ark. 78, 959 S.W.2d 54 (1998) ( per curiam); In Re: Belated Appeals in Criminal Cases, 265 Ark. 964 (1979) ( per curiam). A copy of this per curiam will be forwarded to the Committee on Professional Conduct. See Harkness v. State, 264 Ark. 561, 572 S.W.2d 835 (1978).