Jones v. State

Appellant, Keith Maurice Jones (Jones), appeals the summary denial of his motion for *993posteonviction relief. We reverse and remand.

Jones’ motion sought leave to file a belated appeal because counsel failed to file an appeal despite Jones’ timely request that he do so. The trial court summarily denied the motion, stating that it was in an inappropriate form and raises grounds that should have been raised on direct appeal.

Where a convicted criminal defendant requests that trial counsel take an appeal, failure to honor this request constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel. Hudson v. State,…