Criminal Appeal Brief

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Cover Page
2. Table of Authorities
3. Statement of the Issues
4. Statement of the Case
5. Statement of Facts
6. Standard of Review
7. Argument
8. Conclusion
9. Word Count Certificate
10. Certificate of Service

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

APPELLANT'S BRIEF

Attorney for Appellant:

[________________________________]
Indiana Attorney No. [________________________________]
[________________________________]
[________________________________], Indiana [________________________________]
Telephone: [________________________________]
Email: [________________________________]

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Cases

Statutes

Rules

I. STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES

1. Whether the trial court erred in [________________________________].

2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction for [________________________________].

3. Whether trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by [________________________________].

4. [________________________________]

II. STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On or about [__/__/____], an ☐ information / ☐ indictment was filed in the [________________________________] Circuit / Superior Court, [________________________________] County, Indiana, charging Appellant with:

[Summarize significant pretrial proceedings, motions, and rulings.]

[________________________________]

On [__/__/____], the case proceeded to ☐ jury trial / ☐ bench trial / ☐ the defendant entered a plea of ☐ guilty / ☐ no contest.

On [__/__/____], the jury returned a verdict of:

[________________________________]

On [__/__/____], the trial court sentenced Appellant to:

[________________________________]

(Tr. Vol. [____], p. [____]; App. Vol. [____], p. [____].)

III. STATEMENT OF FACTS

A. State's Case

[________________________________]

(Tr. Vol. [____], p. [____].)

B. Defense Case

[________________________________]

(Tr. Vol. [____], p. [____].)

IV. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Issue 1: [________________________________]

☐ De novo review applies to questions of law, including statutory interpretation and constitutional questions. (State v. Moss-Dwyer, 686 N.E.2d 109 (Ind. 1997).)

☐ Abuse of discretion applies to the trial court's discretionary rulings, including evidentiary matters and sentencing. (Cardwell v. State, 895 N.E.2d 1219 (Ind. 2008).)

☐ Sufficiency of the evidence — the reviewing court considers only the probative evidence and reasonable inferences supporting the verdict and will not reweigh the evidence or judge witness credibility. The conviction will be affirmed if there is substantial evidence of probative value to support the conviction. (Drane v. State, 867 N.E.2d 144 (Ind. 2007).)

☐ Fundamental error review applies to unpreserved claims. The error must be so prejudicial to the defendant's rights as to make a fair trial impossible. (Brown v. State, 929 N.E.2d 204 (Ind. 2010).)

☐ Ind. App. R. 7(B) sentence review — the court may revise a sentence if it finds the sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the offender.

Issue 2: [________________________________]

V. ARGUMENT

A. [ISSUE ONE HEADING]

[________________________________]

1. Relevant Proceedings Below

[________________________________]

(Tr. Vol. [____], p. [____]; App. Vol. [____], p. [____].)

2. Applicable Legal Principles

[________________________________]

3. Analysis

[________________________________]

4. Prejudice

☐ Under Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18 (1967), the constitutional error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because [________________________________].

☐ Under Indiana harmless error analysis, the error was not harmless because the conviction would not have been forthcoming without the erroneously admitted evidence. (Fleener v. State, 656 N.E.2d 1140 (Ind. 1995).)

B. [ISSUE TWO HEADING]

[________________________________]

1. Relevant Proceedings Below

[________________________________]

(Tr. Vol. [____], p. [____]; App. Vol. [____], p. [____].)

2. Applicable Legal Principles

[________________________________]

3. Analysis

[________________________________]

4. Prejudice

[________________________________]

C. [ADDITIONAL ISSUES AS NEEDED]

[________________________________]

VI. CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, Appellant respectfully requests that this Court:

☐ Reverse the judgment of conviction.
☐ Reverse and remand for a new trial.
☐ Vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing.
☐ Revise the sentence pursuant to Ind. App. R. 7(B).
☐ Modify the judgment as follows: [________________________________].
☐ [________________________________]

Respectfully submitted,

Date: [__/__/____]

_________________________________________
[ATTORNEY NAME]
Attorney for Appellant

WORD COUNT CERTIFICATE

Pursuant to Indiana Appellate Rule 44(F), I certify that this brief contains [________________________________] words, exclusive of the cover information, table of contents, table of authorities, signature block, certificate of service, word count certificate, and appealed judgment or order. This brief does not exceed the 14,000-word limit.

Date: [__/__/____]

_________________________________________
[ATTORNEY NAME]

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, [________________________________], hereby certify that on [__/__/____], I served the foregoing Appellant's Brief on the following parties by the method indicated:

☐ U.S. Mail, first-class, postage prepaid
☐ Indiana E-Filing System (IEFS)
☐ Hand delivery

_________________________________________
[ATTORNEY NAME]

STATE-SPECIFIC NOTES FOR INDIANA

1. Notice of Appeal Deadline: Must be filed within 30 days after the entry of a final judgment (Ind. App. R. 9(A)(1)).

2. Page/Word Limit: Appellant's brief may not exceed 50 pages or 14,000 words (Ind. App. R. 44(C) and (E)).

3. Appellant's Brief Due: Within 30 days after the Notice of Completion of Transcript is served, or 30 days after the Notice of Completion of Clerk's Record if no transcript was requested (Ind. App. R. 45(B)).

4. Appellee's Brief Due: Within 30 days after service of the appellant's brief (Ind. App. R. 45(C)).

5. Reply Brief Due: Within 15 days after service of the appellee's brief (Ind. App. R. 45(D)).

6. Ind. App. R. 7(B) — Sentence Appropriateness: Indiana uniquely allows the Court of Appeals to revise a sentence authorized by statute if the court finds the sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the offender.

7. Anders Brief: When appointed counsel finds no meritorious issues, counsel must comply with Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and Mosley v. State, 908 N.E.2d 599 (Ind. 2009).

8. Post-Conviction Relief: Claims requiring evidence outside the record (including many ineffective-assistance claims) should be raised under Indiana Post-Conviction Rule 1.

9. Preservation: A contemporaneous objection is generally required to preserve an issue for appeal. Failure to object results in review only for fundamental error. (Brown v. State, 929 N.E.2d 204 (Ind. 2010).)