Phillips v. Premo

Petitioner appeals the judgment denying his petition for post-conviction relief (PCR), assigning error to the PCR court’s denial of his motion for a continuance. As explained below, we conclude that the PCR court abused its discretion by denying the motion without affording petitioner an opportunity to make a sufficient record regarding the basis for the motion. Accordingly, we reverse and remand.

Petitioner filed a PCR petition, and an attorney, Cowan, was appointed to represent him in the PCR proceedings. On the day of the PCR trial, petitioner appeared by video from the correctional…