Opinion
CR 99-809
Opinion delivered October 21, 1999
APPEAL ERROR — MOTION FOR BELATED APPEAL — GOOD CAUSE FOR GRANTING. — An admission by an attorney for a criminal defendant that the appeal was not timely filed due to a mistake on his part is good cause to grant a motion for belated appeal.
Motion for Belated Appeal; granted.
Kenneth G. Fuchs, for appellant.
No response.
Appellant James Slack filed a motion for belated appeal. We previously denied the motion because Appellant's attorney, Kenneth G. Fuchs, did not admit fault in failing to file a timely notice of appeal. See Slack v. State, 338 Ark. 643, 999 S.W.2d 668 (September 30, 1999) ( per curiam). We indicated, however, that we would grant the motion if Appellant's attorney filed an affidavit accepting full responsibility for failing to file a timely notice of appeal. Appellant's attorney has assumed full responsibility for the error in an affidavit filed October 8, 1999.
[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); Harkness v. State, 264 Ark. 561, 572 S.W.2d 835 (1978). A copy of this per curiam opinion will be forwarded to the Committee on Professional Conduct. See In Re: Belated Appeals in Criminal Cases, 265 Ark. 964 (1979) ( per curiam).