State ex rel. Fuentes v. Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District IV

In State ex rel. Fuentes v. Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District IV, 225 Wis. 2d 446, 593 N.W.2d 48, review denied, 228 Wis. 2d 172, 602 N.W.2d 758 (Wis. July 23, 1999) ( No. 97-1471-CR), an appellant was precluded from filing an appeal before the supreme court because the court of appeals clerk inadvertently mailed the court's decision to the wrong law firm. Because the appellant's attorney did not receive notice of the court of appeals decision, no appeal was timely filed. To remedy the court clerk's error, the supreme court granted the appellant's petition for a writ of habeas corpus. In making its ruling, the court remarked that "the parties are in agreement, and this court concurs, that the appellant's attorney's actions or inactions are not the root of the appellant's appellate misfortune. That responsibility, however inadvertent, lies solely at the feet of the court of appeals." 225 Wis. 2d at 450.