State v. Martinez

Summary

The Court affirmed the Court of Appeals’ discretionary decision to issue a writ of certiorari permitting defendant to pursue a belated direct appeal. It held that the second panel did not violate law-of-the-case principles because the first panel dismissed the petition without prejudice and the renewed petition presented additional arguments and law. The Court also held that the petition satisfied the required merit-or-probable-error and extraordinary-circumstances requirements because counsel admitted failing to protect defendant’s expressed desire to appeal.