Danny Deloney pleaded guilty under an Alford agreement to felony murder and other offenses after holding his former partner and two children at knifepoint, setting fire to the apartment, and causing his six-year-old daughter’s death from smoke inhalation. Fourteen years later, he sought an out-of-time appeal, arguing that he had not been advised of his appellate rights, that the nolle prosequi of the predicate arson count undermined his plea and life-without-parole sentence, and that counsel was ineffective for failing to obtain a psychiatric evaluation. The Supreme Court of Georgia held that the existing record showed Deloney entered his pleas knowingly and voluntarily, supplied a sufficient factual basis, and could not use the nolle prosequi to establish innocence or invalidate the felony-murder plea or aggravating circumstance. His ineffective-assistance claim required factual development unavailable through an out-of-time appeal, and no evidentiary hearing was required. The court affirmed the denial of his motion.