In Re Olsen

Petitioner, an indigent, pleaded guilty to battery (Pen. Code, § 242) in the Hanford Justice Court. He was fined $850 and sentenced to three years’ probation and thirty days in the county jail, less credit for time served. Thereafter, acting without an attorney, petitioner filed a notice of appeal to the Appellate Department of the Kings County Superior Court. Attorney Joe L. Norcross was appointed to represent petitioner in the appeal.

Mr. Norcross filed a proposed statement on appeal on behalf of petitioner. The proposed statement provided: “The grounds that will be raised on appeal include but are not limited to, A) That trial counsel for the defendant did not inform the defendant of the true nature of the agreed plea bargin [jzc], and B) That the Court did not follow the agreed upon sentence and that the sentence is crule [szc] and unusual punishment. ”

The Appellate Department of the Kings County Superior Court notified petitioner that the record on appeal had been lodged in that court. It also set the date for filing of appellant’s opening brief. However, neither a settled statement nor an appellant’s opening brief was filed within the allotted time, and the Kings…