Jose M. Morales v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,__________________ February 19, 2013

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A13A0822. MORALES v. THE STATE.

This pro se appeal was docketed on December 17, 2012. On December 26, 2012, appellant Jose M. Morales filed a motion for appointment of bilingual counsel to represent him in his appeal from the denial of his pro se motion for leave to file an out-of-time appeal. On appeal, Morales raises a claim of ineffective assistance. A claim of ineffective assistance of counsel must be raised at the earliest practical moment, which means that it must be raised before appeal if the opportunity to do so is available. See Garland v. State, 283 Ga. 201, 202 (657 SE2d 842) (2008). There was no new trial motion filed in this case, and this Court cannot determine from the record whether Morales previously requested appointment of appellate counsel, or had an opportunity to raise his claim of ineffective assistance at an earlier date. Moreover, the trial court granted Morales’ request to proceed in forma pauperis shortly after he filed his notice of appeal. An indigent defendant need not specifically request appointment of appellate counsel once a responsible state authority knows of his desire to appeal and knows of the status of his indigency. See Davis v. Frazier, 285 Ga. 16, 18 (673 SE2d 215) (2009). Accordingly, we REMAND the case to the trial court for appointment of appellate counsel.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 02/19/2013 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,__________________ I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.