State v. D'AMBROSIO

MOELLER, Justice.

BACKGROUND FACTS AND ISSUE

In January 1981, William Rocco D’Ambrosio was indicted for conspiracy and theft by false pretenses. He retained counsel to defend him. At that time, his counsel was a member in good standing of the State Bar of Arizona. Following a jury trial, D’Ambrosio was convicted and sentenced to eight to ten years on the conspiracy count and twenty to twenty-four years on the theft by false pretenses count. Counsel appealed D’Ambrosio’s case to the court of appeals in August 1981.

Before the court of appeals could issue a decision in the case, this court…