Opinion ID: 2636537
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Third Ortiz Exception

Text: The third Ortiz exception allows a late appeal if a defendant was furnished an attorney for the purpose of an appeal but the attorney failed to perform. Again, read literally, the use of the word furnished could apply only to counsel appointed for an indigent defendant at public expense. However, read sensibly, this third exception, in contrast to the second exception, does not focus on whether a lawyer has been assigned to a case through any particular mechanism; it focuses on whether that lawyer performs up to a minimum constitutional standard once that assignment is made. Thus we hold that the third Ortiz exception may apply to retained counsel as well as appointed counsel. A defendant who hires private counsel furnishes his or her own lawyer. Furthermore, we hold that the standard of performance to be applied to measure the adequacy of appellate counsel under the third Ortiz exception is that found in Roe v. Flores-Ortega, 528 U.S. 470, 470-72, 120 S.Ct. 1029, 145 L.Ed.2d 985 (2000). That case distinguishes between situations in which counsel's performance in the course of a proceeding is alleged to be deficient and those cases in which counsel's performance or failure to perform leads to forfeiture of a proceeding. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), governs the former and Flores-Ortega the latter. See Flores-Ortega, 528 U.S. at 476-86, 120 S.Ct. 1029. We have long employed Strickland to judge whether a criminal defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment in the course of a criminal proceeding in the district court. See Chamberlain v. State, 236 Kan. 650, 656, 694 P.2d 468 (1985) (adopting and applying Strickland two-part standard). Under that standard, before counsel's assistance is determined to be so defective as to require reversal of a conviction, the defendant must establish two things: first, that counsel's performance was deficient, and second, that counsel's deficient performance prejudiced the defense. See Bledsoe v. State, 283 Kan. 81, 90, 150 P.3d 868 (2007). Likewise, we use an adapted version of the Strickland standard to judge whether a criminal defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel during the course of a direct appeal. See Kargus v. State, 284 Kan. 908, 919, 169 P.3d 307 (2007). The situation contemplated by the third Ortiz exception is different, involving as it does the complete destruction of the right to pursue a direct appeal through counsel's failure to file a timely notice or otherwise protect his or her client's right. As recognized in Flores-Ortega, where appointed counsel said he or she would file a notice of appeal on behalf of the defendant but failed to do so, no presumption of reliability can be afforded a proceeding ... that never took place. Thus, the two-part Strickland deficiency-plus-prejudice analysis must bend. Under Flores-Ortega, if appointed or retained counsel has failed to file or perfect a direct appeal by a criminal defendant, we will presume the existence of prejudice. This is not, however, the same as a finding of prejudice per se, requiring application of the third Ortiz exception. The defendant must still demonstrate that, but for counsel's failure, he or she would have taken a timely direct appeal. The defendant need not show, as he or she would have had to show if we were using the Strickland standard as our benchmark, that such a timely direct appeal would have been successful. Compare Peguero, 526 U.S. at 30-31, 119 S.Ct. 961 (O'Connor, J., concurring).