Bridges v. State

Donald BRIDGES v. STATE of Arkansas

CR 96-181                                          ___ S.W.2d ___

                    Supreme Court of Arkansas
               Opinion delivered February 26, 1996


Appeal & error -- motion for rule on clerk treated as motion for
     belated appeal -- good cause for granting. -- Where an
     attorney for a criminal defendant admitted in his motion for
     belated appeal or for rule on the clerk that he was
     responsible for the failure to file an additional notice of
     appeal, the supreme court treated the motion as one for a
     belated appeal and found good cause to grant it.


     Motion for Belated Appeal or for Rule on the Clerk treated as
Motion for Belated Appeal; granted.
     Mike Everett, for appellant.
     No response.

     Per Curiam.02-26-96 *ADVREP5*





DONALD BRIDGES,
                    APPELLANT,

V.

STATE OF ARKANSAS,
                    APPELLEE,


CR96-181



MOTION FOR BELATED APPEAL OR
FOR RULE ON THE CLERK, JUDGE,



TREATED AS MOTION FOR BELATED
APPEAL;  GRANTED.




                           Per Curiam


     
     The appellant, Donald Bridges, has filed a motion for belated
appeal or rule on the clerk.  As he filed his notice of appeal
prior to the disposition of a post-trial motion listed under Ark.
R. App. P. 4(c), it was of no effect.  Appellant's attorney admits
he was responsible for the failure to file an additional notice of
appeal.
     We treat the motion as one for a belated appeal and grant the
motion.  We find that such an error, admittedly made by an attorney
for a criminal defendant, is good cause to grant the motion.  See
Brown v. State, 321 Ark. 282, 900 S.W.2d 954 (1995).  A copy of
this opinion will be forwarded to the Committee on Professional
Conduct.