Springer v. State
Springer v. State
Opinion of the Court
Clarence Wayne Springer seeks a belated appeal from an order which denied his motion for postconviction relief after an evidentiary hearing. Petitioner has provided this court with sworn evidence that both he and his sister timely requested the court-appointed attorney who represented him at the hearing to file a notice of appeal. Respondent, the State of Florida, opposes the petition and offers the affidavit of court-appointed counsel who states that he was not aware the order had been entered because he was not attorney of record for Springer at that time. According to counsel:
My appointment by the court in this case was limited to the evidentiary hearing (see attached order of appointment). By the time the order denying the 3.850 motion was rendered and the appeal time commenced, I was no longer Mr. Springer’s attorney.
The order of the circuit court does appoint counsel for the evidentiary hearing. It does not, however, purport to automatically terminate the appointment at the conclusion of the hearing.
The petition for writ of habeas corpus for a belated appeal from the order of the Circuit Court for Escambia County dated February 25, 2000, denying postconviction relief in case numbers 92^4069, 92-4070, and 98-1246, is granted. Upon issuance of mandate in this cause, a copy of the opinion will be provided to the clerk of the circuit court to be treated as a notice of appeal. Fla. R.App. P. 9.140(j)(5)(D).
. Nor do we believe such an order would be appropriate.
. If the only request for an appeal was made by petitioner's sister and counsel was unsure of her authority to speak for his client, presumably counsel would be under an obligation to communicate with his client to clarify that issue. We find it unnecessary to reach that question in the instant case, however, as Springer made a timely written request to counsel that an appeal be taken.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Clarence Wayne SPRINGER v. STATE of Florida
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published