Appeals – The Appeals Process – California Penal Code 1237

The ability to appeal a criminal conviction is governed by California Penal Code Section 1237. Once the judge or jury finds the accused guilty of criminal offense and sentence is imposed, you must file a notice of appeal within a specific period of time. Once the notice of appeal is filed, the court clerk will prepare the “record on appeal,” which will include all of the court documents, entitled the “clerks transcript” and the court reporter will prepare a transcript of the entire trial process, entitled the “reporters transcript”

When the record is complete, the appellants (the person who was found guilty of the crime is called the appellant attorney will file an “appellants opening brief.” The appellants opening brief will outline, discuss, and analyze the trial court record and indicate any mistakes that may have been made by the trial court or by the prosecutor or by the defense attorney during the trial process. All issues or legal arguments subject to appeal are addressed in this brief.

Once the appellants brief has been submitted, the opposing side (represented by the Attorney Generals Office) will submit a “respondents brief” that addresses and challenges all of the legal arguments presented in the appellants opening brief. The Appellant is then entitled to file a “reply brief” which allows the appellant to respond to legal arguments raised by the Attorney General in his respondents brief.
After all of the briefs have been filed, the appellate court will set a date for “oral argument.” This is when the lawyers for the appellant and respondent appear before the court of appeals to answer questions posed by the appellate court and make legal arguments to explain why their side should prevail in the appellate court. These oral arguments are based on the submitted briefs.

After oral arguments, the appellate court will make a ruling based on the legal arguments presented. The ruling will take the form of a written opinion and will either affirm or overturn the trial courts ruling. There is often a substantial delay between the time of oral argument and when a final judgment is rendered by the court of appeals.

As you can see the appellate process has many steps and takes many months if not years to complete.