State v. Griffin

Cite as 2016 Ark. 308
SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS
No. CR-16-704
STATE OF ARKANSAS Opinion Delivered September 15, 2016
APPELLANT
V. MOTION TO WITHDRAW AS
ATTORNEY ON DIRECT APPEAL
JAMES GRIFFIN, JR.
APPELLEE
MOTION GRANTED.
PER CURIAM
The State has filed an interlocutory appeal from a granting of a motion to
suppress. The appellee, James Griffin, Jr. is indigent and is represented by Matthew Lee
Dearmore a full-time public defender who now asks to be relieved as counsel on the
ground that he is ineligible for compensation for services as appellate counsel.
Arkansas Code Annotated § 19-4-1604(b)(2)(B) (Repl. 2007) provides that
persons employed as full-time public defenders who are not provided with 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 payment for services in this appeal, and his request to
be relieved is well-founded. See Craigg v. State, 2012 Ark. 95 (per curiam). We
therefore grant Dearmore’s motion to be relieved. We appoint attorney Robert E. Hodge
III to represent the appellee. Our clerk is directed to set a new briefing schedule for the
appeal.
Motion granted.