Title: James v. State

State: arkansas

Issuer: Arkansas Supreme Court

Document:

Cite as 2010 Ark. 178 SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS No. CR10-317 ROBERT JAMES, APPELLANT, VS. STATE OF ARKANSAS, APPELLEE, Opinion Delivered 4-15-10 MOTION TO BE RELIEVED AS ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT MOTION GRANTED. PER CURIAM Robert James was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Appellant is represented on appeal by John R. Irwin, a full-time public defender. Mr. Irwin now asks that he be permitted to withdraw as counsel on the ground that he is ineligible for compensation for services as appellate counsel. Act 370 of 2001, codified as Arkansas Code Annotated section 19-4-1604(b)(2)(B) (Supp. 2001), provides that persons employed as full-time public defenders who are not provided a state-funded secretary are eligible to seek compensation for appellate work. Counsel here affirms that he is a full-time public defender with a full-time, state-funded secretary. Under these circumstances, he is not entitled to be paid for services in this appeal and his request to be relieved is well founded. Rhodes v. State, 2009 Ark. 138, 297 S.W.3d 551 (per curiam). We grant Mr. James’s motion to withdraw and appoint attorney Adam Hopkins to represent appellant. Our clerk is directed to set a new briefing schedule for the appeal. Motion granted.