Rhodes v. Leverette

Miller, Justice:

In this habeas corpus proceeding we are asked to grant the writ and discharge the relator from further confinement on the ground that he was denied effective assistance of counsel on appeal.

In 1972, relator was found guilty by a jury of the crime of armed robbery. He had obtained approximately $10,000 at gunpoint by forcing a coal company paymaster and his family from their home to the company office where the money was obtained from a safe.

There is no dispute that after the trial, relator instructed his attorney to take an appeal. Approximately nine and one-half months later,…