Johnson v. State

Summary

The court rejected its prior absolute rule that a pro se filing by a criminal defendant represented by counsel is always a legal nullity. It held that courts have discretion to recognize a timely and procedurally proper pro se filing, particularly when counsel failed to preserve appellate rights, although such recognition should be rare and made clear on the record. The court vacated the order denying Johnson's noncognizable out-of-time motion for new trial and remanded for dismissal of that motion while directing the trial court to decide whether to recognize and rule on Johnson's earlier pro se post-conviction filings.