Title: Keith Dzhon Hills v. State of Arkansas

State: arkansas

Issuer: Arkansas Supreme Court

Document:

Keith Dzhon HILLS v. STATE of Arkansas

CR 97-540                                          ___ S.W.2d ___

                    Supreme Court of Arkansas
                 Opinion delivered June 3, 1997


Appeal & error -- attorney failed to file notice of appeal in 
     timely manner -- failure to take responsibility for error
     resulted in denial of motion for belated appeal. -- It is an
     attorney's duty to file the notice of appeal in a timely
     manner; where appellant's attorney failed to admit fault on
     his part but instead placed the blame on a former employee's
     clerical error, his motion for a belated appeal was denied; a
     statement that it was someone else's fault or no one's fault
     will not suffice.   


     Motion for Belated Appeal; denied.
     Ed Webb, for appellant.
     No response.

     Per Curiam.
     Appellant, Keith Dzhon Hills, has filed this Motion for
Belated Appeal through his attorney, Ed Webb.  On March 8, 1996,
Mr. Hills's probation was revoked and he was sentenced to serve
three years in the department of correction.  He filed an untimely
notice of appeal on February 7, 1997.  
     Mr. Hills has filed a motion for belated appeal to compel the
clerk's office to accept the notice of appeal.  In his motion, Mr.
Hills states the notice of appeal was filed untimely due to a
former employee's clerical error in putting the wrong case number
on the original notice of appeal.  
     It is an attorney's duty to file the notice of appeal in a
timely manner.  In this case, Mr. Webb does not admit fault on his
part but instead places the blame on a former employee's clerical
error.  We have held that a statement that it was someone else's
fault or no one's fault will not suffice.  Hicks v. State, 324 Ark.
450, 921 S.W.2d 604 (1996).  Therefore, Mr. Hill's motion must be
denied.
     The appellant's attorney shall file within thirty days from
the date of this per curiam a motion and affidavit in this case
accepting full responsibility for not timely filing the notice of
appeal, and upon filing same, the motion will be granted and a copy
of the opinion will be forwarded to the Committee on Professional
Conduct.  Harkness v. State, 264 Ark. 561,