Walsh v. State

Barnes, Judge.

William Walsh appeals the denial of his motion for an out-of-time appeal. Because the trial court abused its discretion in denying Walsh’s motion without having held an evidentiary hearing on the issue of who ultimately bore the responsibility for the failure to file a timely appeal, we reverse the ruling and remand the case for an evidentiary hearing, and to make findings on the record as to that issue.

On July 2,1997, a Walton County jury found Walsh guilty of four counts of child molestation, and he was sentenced to forty years in prison followed by forty years of probation.…