Legal Question in Appeals and Writs in California

Re: filing an appeal

As Mr. Koury explained, a notice of appeal must be filed within 60 days. The sixty days begins running upon the entry of judgment, which often takes place long after the veridct is announced. Typically, judgment is entered upon sentencing.

Your question refers to "filing an appeal" and is thus a bit ambiguous. The NOTICE of appeal must be filed as set forth above, but the Opening Brief will be due much later. Once the record of your case has been provided to the appellate court, the court will issue an order requiring the Opening Brief to be filed within 40 days. Extensions of this date are routinely granted upon request and, even if the deadline passes, the Court will issue a warning and permit another 30 days for the brief to be filed.

[NOTE -- the procedure is substantially different for civil cases; readers who are pusuing or considering a civil appeal should NOT assume that the process set forth here will apply to them!!!]

The Notice of Appeal is easy; it is a routine document which most defense attorneys can produce in a few minutes. Defendants themselves can draft such a document without too much difficulty. The Opening Brief is much more complex and generally would be better left in the hands of an experienced appellate attorney; even many criminal defense attorneys prefer not to handle their cases on appeal and instead entrust them to appellate lawyers. Unrepresented parties are allowed to file their own briefs, but this is almost never wise; appointed counsel are available for indigent defendants, so lack of funds shouldn't be an excuse for not getting a lawyer.

I routinely handle criminal and civil appeals, and you should feel free to contact me directly if you want to discuss this further.

Re: filing an appeal

A notice of appeal must be filed within 60 days. This is usually done as a matter of routine by the criminal defense attorney.