Heard v. State

We reverse the summary denial of appellant’s motion for post-conviction relief. Appellant’s claim is that his lawyer was ineffective because he knew that the state could not locate its only witness, the victim of the alleged sex related charges, but did not inform appellant. If appellant had known, he would not have entered a plea.

The state’s response rests on a memorandum in the state attorney’s file indicating the state attorney was having difficulty finding the victim. The state’s position, which apparently persuaded the trial court, was that this memorandum was a public record which could…