Nicholas Brown v. State of Arkansas

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ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT  No.  CR 07­768  Opinion Delivered  NICHOLAS BROWN  Petitioner  v.  January 31, 2008  PRO SE MOTION FOR BELATED  APPEAL OF JUDGMENT OF  CONVICTION [CIRCUIT COURT OF  CLEVELAND COUNTY, CR 2006­5,  HON. LARRY W. CHANDLER,  JUDGE]  STATE OF ARKANSAS  Respondent  MOTION DENIED.  PER CURIAM  On February 20, 2007, petitioner Nicholas Brown was found guilty by a jury of attempted  theft of property, a felony, and misdemeanor theft of property. An aggregate sentence of seventy­two  months’ imprisonment was imposed.  Petitioner was represented at trial by his retained attorney Don  E.  Warren,  Sr.  No  appeal  was  taken  from  the  judgment  of  conviction,  which  was  entered  on  February 28, 2007, and petitioner sought to proceed with a belated appeal pursuant to Ark. R. App.  P.–Crim.  2(e),  which  permits  a  belated  appeal  in  a  criminal  case  in  some  instances.    Petitioner  contended that he asked Mr. Warren to file an appeal from the judgment and was assured that counsel  would do so.  It is the practice of this court when a pro se motion for belated appeal is filed in which the  petitioner contends that he made a timely request to appeal, and the record does not contain an order  relieving trial counsel, to request an affidavit from the trial attorney in response to the allegations in the motion.  There was no order relieving Mr. Warren in the record filed in this case.  The affidavit  requested of trial counsel was required because Ark. R. App. P.–Crim. 16 provides in pertinent part  that  trial counsel,  whether  retained  or  court  appointed,  shall  continue  to  represent  a  convicted  defendant  throughout  any  appeal,  unless  permitted  by  the  trial  court  or  the  appellate  court  to  withdraw in the interest  of justice or for other sufficient  cause.    We have held, however, that a  defendant may waive his right to appeal by his failure to inform counsel of his desire to appeal within  the thirty­day  period  allowed for filing a notice of appeal under Ark. R. App. P.–Crim. 2(a)(4).  Sanders v. State, 330 Ark. 851, 956 S.W.2d 868 (1997) (per curiam);  Jones v. State, 294 Ark. 659,  748 S.W.2d 117 (1988) (per curiam).  Mr.  Warren  in  his  affidavit  stated  that  he  thoroughly  discussed  whether  to  appeal  with  petitioner and petitioner decided not to appeal.  He further stated that there was no communication  between them after the decision was made.  As petitioner’s and counsel’s accounts of whether counsel was asked to appeal were in direct  conflict and required findings of fact, we remanded the matter to the trial court for an evidentiary  hearing on whether counsel was informed by petitioner within the time period allowed for filing a  notice of appeal that he desired to appeal.  Brown v. State, CR 07­768 (Ark. Oct. 11, 2007) (per  curiam).  The findings and the transcript of the evidentiary hearing are now before us.  The court took testimony at the hearing from petitioner, petitioner’s mother, and Mr.  Warren.  After hearing the testimony, the court concluded that Mr. Warren’s testimony that he was  not asked to appeal from the judgment was more credible than the testimony of petitioner.  As the  merit of the motion for belated appeal rests entirely on the credibility of the witnesses, and this court  recognizes  that  it  is  the  lower  court's  task  to  assess  the  credibility of witnesses  and  resolve  any ­2­  conflicts of fact, we accept the trial court's findings.  See Frazier v. State, 339 Ark. 173, 3 S.W.3d  334 (1999) (per curiam ) (citing Allen v. State, 277 Ark. 380, 641 S.W.2d 710 (1982) (per curiam)).  The motion for belated appeal is denied.  Motion denied. ­3­ 

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