Green v. State

2017 Ark. 243

• Court: Supreme Court of Arkansas
• Decided: September 14, 2017
• Docket: CR-99-126
• Status: Published

Opinion

Cite as 2017 Ark. 243

SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS No. CR-99-126

CHARLES GREEN Opinion Delivered September 14, 2017 PETITIONER PRO SE MOTION FOR TRIAL V. TRANSCRIPT UNDER ARKANSAS RULE OF APPELLATE STATE OF ARKANSAS PROCEDURE–CRIMINAL 19 RESPONDENT [MISSISSIPPI COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, CHICKASAWBA DISTRICT, NO. 47BCR-97-86]

RESPONSE ORDERED.

COURTNEY HUDSON GOODSON, Associate Justice

Petitioner Charles Green requests that he be provided with a copy of his trial record

filed on appeal. No response has been filed to Green’s motion under Arkansas Rule of

Appellate Procedure–Criminal 19 (2016), and we therefore direct Thomas A. Young, who

represented Green on appeal, to provide a response in accord with this opinion.

The Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment reflecting petitioner Green’s

conviction on a charge of first-degree murder. Green v. State, CR-99-126 (Ark. App. Sept.

8, 1999) (unpublished) (original docket number CACR99-126). Green, who asserts that

he is indigent, filed his motion for transcript in which he requests a copy of the trial record

under Rule 19. In the motion, he indicates that he has requested a copy of the transcript

and record from three attorneys who represented him and that he served those three

attorneys with notice of the motion. Cite as 2017 Ark. 243

Young is one of the three attorneys whom Green indicates he served, and he is listed

on the docket for the court of appeals as the attorney who filed the record on appeal and

represented Green throughout the appeal. See Ark. R. App. P.–Crim. 19(b). Young must

respond even if he believes the motion has no merit, and Rule 19 makes counsel’s response

mandatory. Geatches v. State, 2016 Ark. 452, at 4, 505 S.W.3d 691, 693. Accordingly, we

direct Young to file the response required by Rule 19. He must state (1) whether he has

the requested copy in his possession; (2) whether, if so, the copy is paper or some other

format; (3) whether the copy was provided to his client. See Ark. R. App. P.–Crim. 19(b).

If Young’s response states that he has a copy in his possession, but he has not provided it to

his client, then the response must also either commit to provide the requested documents

or provide good cause for the failure to do so. See Ark. R. App. P.–Crim. 19. Young’s

response must be received within ten days of this opinion. After we have received Young’s

response, we will address Green’s request that he be provided a copy of the transcript at

State expense.