Background
Clint S. Chambers, proceeding pro se, filed an amended petition for a belated appeal in the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal. The petition arose from a February 19, 2026 judgment and sentence in Brevard County Circuit Court Case No. 05-2023-CF-044435-A.
The proceeding was an original-jurisdiction matter in the appellate court. The State was represented by the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
The Court’s Holding
The Fifth District granted Chambers’s amended petition for a belated appeal.
The court directed that a copy of its opinion be filed in the trial court and treated as the notice of appeal from the February 19, 2026 judgment and sentence, pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.141(c)(6)(D).
Key Takeaways
- Chambers may pursue a belated appeal from his criminal judgment and sentence.
- The appellate opinion itself will serve as the notice of appeal when filed with the trial court.
- The court granted the requested procedural relief without addressing the merits of the underlying conviction or sentence.
Why It Matters
The decision restores Chambers’s opportunity for appellate review despite the absence of a timely notice of appeal. It also illustrates the procedure under Rule 9.141(c)(6)(D), through which an opinion granting belated-appeal relief is filed in the trial court and treated as the notice initiating the appeal.