Opinion
DA 23-0381
07-18-2023
STATE OF MONTANA, Plaintiff and Appellee. v. CHRISTOPHER LAPOINTE, Defendant and Appellant.
ORDER
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.