Legal Question in Appeals and Writs in California

who can i get to help me file an appeal for my brother

i have called legal aid, friends on the outside, paraleagls. lawyers. lawyer referral, public defenders office, etc. he has been in jail for two years on false charges. the d.a. andhis investiagtors lied and changed thier stories on the stand, both of the d.a.'s writness, had two differant storys. the lawyer my brother had did not call in his witness's he did not get a fair trail. i have 4 weeks to get his appeal filed and i do not know what to do. please help me. he is sentanced to 31 years for something he did not do. after the appeal the courts should appoint him a attorny. i do not have the funds to pay one. i am lost and i know in my heart there was to be some one that can help me help my brother. i have copied all the court papers they had in his file. the d.a. witness lied so the would not have to back to jail or the youth home they were placed in, so the set my brother up to make the courts pitty them. we have witness to prove my brothers side. but his lawyer nor the d.a. would call them in. he no longer has a lawyer, and the judge side she will get him appeal forms and did not. i picked them up my self. can i file them my self? if so how? what do i wrote on them? please help me....thank you....


Asked on 10/15/99, 2:47 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: who can i get to help me file an appeal for my brother

If your brother is indigent -- and if he filed a notice of appeal -- an attorney should have been appointed for him free of charge. Each of the six appellate courts in California has an agency that handles these appointments (actually, four of the six districts have their own and the other two share one), while each of the four Federal district courts has a mechanism to match appellants with appointed counsel.

You say you have four weeks to get an appeal filed. Is this the original deadline, or has your brother been given extensions? If it's the first deadline, extra time should be available pretty easily. If you've reached the end of the available extensions, you may need a lawyer to request an additional extension. It sounds like the transcript in your case must be pretty long, and four weeks may not be enough time to get everything done that you need.

Please feel free to call me at 310-575-3540; I'll be happy to try to help you figure out what's going on. I handle a large number of appointed criminal appeals myself (I'm arguing a particularly complex one on Tuesday morning in Orange County), and even if I can't represent your brother I can probably help you figure out who you need to reach.

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Answered on 10/15/99, 9:35 pm
Ken Koury Kenneth P. Koury, Esq.

Re: who can i get to help me file an appeal for my brother

Contact the California Appellate Project. They have an office in downtown los angeles and i think they also have one in san francisco.

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Answered on 10/15/99, 11:30 pm


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