Appeals – The Appeals Process Steps – California Penal Code 1237

Below is a brief step by step explanation of the appeals process that your Southern California appeals attorney must follow according to state law. It also provides a general timeline to help you gain a better understanding of the criminal appeals process.

Notice of Appeal California Penal Code Section 1237, California Rules of Court, Rule 8.304

Once your trial has been completed and a conviction has been rendered, the first thing a California appeals attorney must do is to file a notice of appeal to have a higher court review the trial courts proceedings. The notice of appeal is filed by your appeals attorney with the clerk of the Superior Court. This notice of appeal expresses an intent to challenge the verdict handed down by the trial court.
Your criminal appeals lawyer has a window of just 60 days from the point of sentencing for a felony conviction to file a notice of appeal. For a misdemeanor conviction, the window shrinks to just 30 days. This is outlined in California Rules of Court, Rule 8.308 & 8.853

Record on Appeal

Once the notice of appeal has been filed by your appeals attorney, the Superior Court prepares what is called a record on appeal. The record on appeal consists of all documents and transcripts produced for the purpose of your original trial. The court reporter who was present during your trial will prepare a written transcript of everything that was said during court proceedings. The court clerk is then responsible for gathering all the other documents that had been prepared and filed to the court in your case. The end result is a transcript, consisting of all the factual and procedural events from your original trial. This transcript is referred to as the clerk’s transcript.

Appellants Opening Brief

Once the transcripts have been completed and delivered to the Court of Appeal, your criminal appeals attorney will then meticulously review the records and transcripts in search of any errors that may have been made by the court, jury or prosecution during the trial process. They may even look for mistakes made by your criminal defense attorney that could be grounds for improper representation at your trial. Once grounds for an appeal has been found, the appeals attorney then submits a written brief to the Court of Appeals citing the errors that they claim were made during the trial and will request that the court of appeals reverse your conviction. The appellant’s opening brief is an extensive document that includes summaries of the facts and detailed legal arguments citing statutory and case law that supports the appellants’ legal position.

Respondents Brief
Naturally, the prosecution has the right to respond to your appeal attorneys appellant brief. However, the California Attorney General, not the District Attorneys Office, is the respondent in the appeals process. These two agencies are distinct from one another. The Attorney General’s office is responsible for defending the People of the State of California, and will always argue to prevent a conviction from being overturned by the court of appeals. In order to oppose the appeal, the Deputy Attorney General will review the appellant brief and the record on appeal before asking the court to uphold the original trial court’s verdict.

Appellant’s Reply Brief
The last step before your criminal appeals attorney appears in court is the appellants reply brief. Unlike in trial court, the burden of proof rests on the defense to persuade the appellate court to reverse the trial court’s decision. As such, the law provides that an appeals lawyer may file a “reply brief,” in which the defense can respond to any arguments made by the Attorney General. A reply brief must be filed within 20 days of when the respondent’s brief is filed. An appellant’s reply brief is useful in providing the defense the opportunity to further elaborate on their contentions as to why the conviction should be reversed by the appellate court.

Oral Arguments
Once all briefs have been filed, the final phase of an appeal begins. The reviewing appellate court will hear oral arguments from both the Attorney General and your criminal appeals attorney regarding their positions. Oral arguments are made before the justices of the court of appeals. It is the justices that ultimately decide the fate of your appeal. The justices often will ask the lawyers questions and will also hear from the lawyers why they believe that their legal position is the stronger case. The decision to either uphold or overturn the lower court’s decision will come in the form of a written opinion by the court of appeals.

Written Decision of the Court of Appeals
After listening to oral arguments from both sides, the justices of the court of appeals will then confer. The justices will then render their opinion in the form of a written opinion. In some cases, the opinion will be unanimous. However, in other cases, there will be a majority opinion as well as a dissenting opinion. They majority position can either be in favor of the defense or the Attorney General, and will be the decision that will prevail in your appeal.

The appeals process takes a long time and is extremely complex. However the time you have to file for an appeal is short. Contacting an experienced criminal appeals law firm immediately following your conviction is vital if you want any chance of overturning the trial court’s ruling. The appeals attorneys at Wallin & Klarich have over 30 years dealing with the appellant court, and understand the complicated appeals process. We have experience finding all the legal errors that may have prejudiced the courts against you in your trial.