Reid v. State

The trial court erred in failing to hold an evidentiary hearing on the issue of whether trial counsel's deficient performance was the cause of defendant's failure to file a timely direct appeal.

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Charleston Reid pled guilty on August 19, 2014, to possession with intent to distribute cocaine OCGA § 16-13-30 b, two counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer OCGA § 16-5-21 d, two felony counts of obstruction of a peace officer OCGA § 16-10-24 b, and two misdemeanor counts of obstruction of a peace officer OCGA § 16-10-24 a.1 Reid filed a pro se motion for an out-of-time appeal, alleging that his guilty plea was not knowing and voluntary and that some of his convictions should have merged. The trial court summarily denied Reid’s motion in a one-sentence order without an evidentiary hearing, and he appeals pro se from that ruling. For the reasons that follow, we affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand this case for an evidentiary hearing.

Although the record does not contain many details concerning the incident that led to Reid’s arrest, the record does show that he was indicted for one count of trafficking in cocaine, one count of aggravated assault against a peace officer for assaulting Officer Brock with debris later identified as a tree limb, one count of aggravated assault for assaulting Officer Brock with his hands, one felony count of obstruction of a peace officer for offering and doing violence to Officer Brock with his fists, one felony count of obstruction of a peace officer for pushing Officer Duncan, one count of misdemeanor obstruction of a peace officer for failing to obey the lawful commands of Officer Duncan, and one count of misdemeanor obstruction of a peace officer for running from Officer Brock. Reid pled guilty to all counts of the indictment, with the exception of his drug charge, to which he pled to the lesser offense of possession with intent to distribute. Reid did not file a timely direct appeal. Instead, he filed a pro se motion for out-of-time appeal, which the trial court denied.

Reid v. State

The trial court erred in failing to hold an evidentiary hearing on the issue of whether trial counsel's deficient performance was the cause of defendant's failure to file a timely direct appeal.

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