Cite as 2017 Ark. 289
SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS
No. CR-07-328
TILTON RHODES Opinion Delivered OCTOBER 26,
PETITIONER 2017
V. PRO SE MOTION FOR
TRANSCRIPT [DREW COUNTY
STATE OF ARKANSAS CIRCUIT COURT, NO. 22CR-05-
RESPONDENT 185]
RESPONSE ORDERED.
JOSEPHINE LINKER HART, Associate Justice
Following his 2006 conviction on charges of rape and sexual assault, petitioner Tilton
Rhodes, who was represented by counsel, appealed the judgment, and the Arkansas Court
of Appeals affirmed. Rhodes v. State, 102 Ark. App. 73, 281 S.W.3d 758 (2008). Rhodes
filed a motion in this court in which he asserts that he is indigent and seeks a copy of the
transcript lodged on direct appeal in that case. Rhodes’s attorney, William Howard, has
failed to file a response to the motion, which we require before we reach the merits of
Rhodes’s motion. Howard is accordingly directed to file a response in accord and with
Arkansas Rule of Appellate Procedure–Criminal 19 (2016), as indicated below, within ten
days of this opinion.
Howard must respond even if he believes the motion has no merit; and Rule 19
makes counsel’s response mandatory. Ark. R. App. P.–Crim. 19(b); Geatches v. State, 2016
Ark. 452, at 4, 505 S.W.3d 691, 693. Howard’s response must state (1) whether he has the
requested copy in his possession; (2) whether, if so, the copy is paper or some other format;
Cite as 2017 Ark. 289
(3) whether the copy was provided to his client. See Ark. R. App. P.–Crim. 19(b). If
Howard’s response indicates that he has a copy in his possession, but he has not provided it
to his client, then the response must also either commit to provide the requested documents
or provide good cause for the failure to do so. See Ark. R. App. P.–Crim. 19. After we
have received Howard’s response, we will address Rhodes’s request that he be provided a
copy of the transcript at State expense.
Response ordered.
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