Timothy L. Waddle and Irene L. Waddle v. State of Arkansas

yTimothy L. WADDLE and Irene L. Waddle v.
STATE of Arkansas

CR 97-71                                           ___ S.W.2d ___

                    Supreme Court of Arkansas
               Opinion delivered February 3, 1997


Appeal & error -- motion for belated appeal -- good cause for granting. -- 
     The supreme court treated appellants' request for rule on the
     clerk as a motion for a belated appeal; the error of failing
     to timely file a notice of appeal, admittedly made by counsel
     for criminal defendants, is good cause to grant the motion.


     Motion for Rule on the Clerk treated as Motion for Belated
Appeal; granted.
     C. Richard Lippard, for appellant.
     No response.

     Per Curiam. 
     The appellants, Timothy L. Waddle and Irene L. Waddle, have
filed a motion for rule on the clerk.  Their attorney, C. Richard
Lippard, admits that the notice of appeal was untimely filed due to
a mistake on his part.  
     We treat appellants' request for rule on the clerk as a motion
for a belated appeal.  See, e.g., Hicks v. State, 325 Ark. 192, 923 S.W.2d 872 (1996).  We find that the error of failing to timely
file a notice of appeal, admittedly made by counsel for criminal
defendants, is good cause to grant the motion.  See In Re: Belated
Appeals in Criminal Cases, 265 Ark. 964 (1979) (per curiam).
     We grant the motion for belated appeal.  A copy of this
opinion will be forwarded to the Committee on Professional
Conduct.