Camp v. State, 2010 Ark. 193 (Ark. 4/22/2010), CR 10-290.

• Citation: 2010 Ark. 193
• Decision Date: 22 April 2010
• Docket Number: No. CR 10-290.,CR 10-290.
• Parties: WYOUMAN DAVID CAMP, Petitioner, v. STATE OF ARKANSAS, Respondent.
• Court: Supreme Court of Arkansas

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2010 Ark. 193

WYOUMAN DAVID CAMP, Petitioner, v. STATE OF ARKANSAS, Respondent.

No. CR 10-290.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

April 22, 2010.

Pro Se Motion for Belated Appeal and for Appointment of Counsel [Circuit Court of Howard County, Cr 2008-93, Hon. Charles Yeargan, Judge].

Motions Granted.

PER CURIAM.

In 2009, petitioner Wyouman David Camp was found guilty by a jury of being an accomplice to murder in the first degree and sentenced to life imprisonment. Petitioner was represented at trial by his retained attorney, Paul Hoover. No appeal was taken, and petitioner has filed the pro se motion for belated appeal pursuant to Arkansas Rule of Appellate Procedure—Criminal 2(e) (2010) that is now before us. Petitioner seeks to proceed with the direct appeal of the judgment and also asks that an attorney be appointed to represent him on appeal. He has submitted an affidavit of indigency, and the State has not contested his claim to be indigent.

When judgment is entered in a criminal case and the trial attorney is made aware by the convicted defendant that the defendant desires to appeal within the thirty-day period from the date of judgment allowed by Arkansas Rule of Appellate Procedure—Criminal 2(a) for filing a notice of appeal, counsel is obligated to file a timely notice of appeal. Spillers v. State, 341 Ark. 749, 19 S.W.3d 35 (2000) (per curiam). A first appeal from a judgment of conviction in a criminal case is a matter of right. State v. Rowe, 374 Ark. 19, 285 S.W.3d 614 (2008). Under no circumstances may counsel simply abandon the convicted defendant if timely advised of the desire to appeal from the judgment. Thompson v. State, 2009 Ark. 342, ___ S.W.3d ___ (per curiam). Arkansas Rule of Appellate Procedure Criminal 16(a) provides 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. Evans v. State, 370 Ark. 427, 260 S.W.3d 265 (2007) (per curiam). Petitioner here avers that he timely advised Mr. Hoover of his desire to appeal.

Ordinarily, when a petitioner claims in a motion for belated appeal that he timely advised his attorney, who was not relieved as counsel by the trial court before the time to file a notice of appeal elapsed, to appeal from a judgment but no notice of appeal was filed, this court remands the matter to the...