Cotton v. State

Smith, Presiding Judge.

This appeal has a long and tortuous history. In 2005, after a bench trial in Fulton County Superior Court, Stanley Cotton was convicted of burglary and acquitted of obstruction of a law enforcement officer. His trial counsel filed a notice of appeal, but the appeal was dismissed for failure to file a brief or enumeration of errors. In 2007, Cotton, represented by appellate counsel, moved for permission to file an out-of-time motion for new trial or, in the alternative, an out-of-time appeal. While no order granting that motion appears in the record, Cotton filed an…