Court Opinion

ID: 9409798
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-07-19 15:08:35.150238+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:53.465951
License: Public Domain

ertIGINAL                                      07/18/2023

            IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
                                                                                         Case Number: DA 23-0381

                                        DA 23-0381

                                                                        FILED
STATE OF MONTANA,
                                                                         JUL 1 8 2023
             Plaintiff and Appellee,                                   BOVVerl Greenwood
                                                                     Clerk of Supreme Court
                                                                        State or Montana

      v.                                                            ORDER

CHRISTOPHER LAPOINTE,

             Defendant and Appellant.

       Chad Wright, Appellate Defender, petitions for an out-of-time appeal for Christopher
LaPointe from the order entered on April 24, 2023, by the Eighteenth Judicial District Court,
Gallatin County, in Cause No. DC-20-328B. The Attorney General's Office does not object
to this motion.
       Wright asserts that LaPointe's trial counsel missed the deadline for referring this
matter to the Appellate Defender Division because the Bozeman Office of Public Defender
was in the process of moving to a new location and trial counsel mis-calendared the appeal
deadline.
       Wright argues that it would be unjust to deny LaPointe the right to appeal when the
untimeliness of the Notice of Appeal was caused by an error outside of LaPointe's control.
       We grant out-of-time appeals under M. R. App. P. 4(6) when an appellant establishes
the existence of "extraordinary circumstances amounting to a gross miscarriage of justice,"
which would exist if we were to deny the petition here.
       IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the petition for an out-of-time appeal is
GRANTED.
       IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Appellate Defender shall have 30 days from the
date of this Order within which to prepare, file, and serve a Notice of Appeal and a Request
for Transcripts, if necessary, in compliance with the Montana Rules of Appellate Procedure.
The Clerk is directed to provide copies of this Order to all counsel of record.
DATED this ‘r \°-
               day of July, 2023.

                                                        Chief Justice

                                                                    '
                                                              /<:)1C-e-
                                                           Justices

                                      2