Title: Griffin v. State (Per Curiam)

State: arkansas

Issuer: Arkansas Supreme Court

Document:

Cite as 2014 Ark. 424 SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS No. CR-14-818 JOHN CHAD GRIFFIN APPELLANT V. STATE OF ARKANSAS APPELLEE Opinion Delivered October 9, 2014 MOTION TO WITHDRAW AS ATTORNEY ON DIRECT APPEAL MOTION GRANTED. PER CURIAM Appellant pled guilty to first degree murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. An appeal from the judgment has been lodged in this court. Griffin is represented by Timothy Beckham, a full-time public defender, who now asks that he be relieved as counsel on the ground that he is ineligible for compensation for services as appellate counsel. Arkansas Code Annotated section 19-4-1604(b)(2)(B) (Repl. 2007) 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 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. See Williamson v. State, 2013 Ark. 1 (per curiam). We grant Beckham’s motion to be relieved, and we appoint attorney Joseph K. Luebke to represent Griffin. Our clerk is directed to set a new briefing schedule for the appeal.