McFadden v. State

PATRICIA BRECKENRIDGE, Judge.

Mr. McFadden appeals the dismissal of his Rule 29.15 motion, claiming that his motion should be re-opened and considered on the merits because he timely prepared it and sent it to his counsel, at her direction, and she then abandoned him and failed to file it within the 90-day time period provided in Rule 29.15(b). After opinion by the court of appeals, this Court granted transfer. Mo. Const, art. V, sec. 10. This Court holds that counsel’s actions constituted abandonment, and the judgment below is reversed.

Factual and Procedural Background

Mr. Vincent McFadden was…