Criminal Appeal Brief

CRIMINAL APPEAL BRIEF

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA

Case No. DA [____]-[________]

STATE OF MONTANA,

Plaintiff and [Appellee / Appellant],

v.

[DEFENDANT FULL NAME],

Defendant and [Appellant / Appellee].

APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE [________] JUDICIAL DISTRICT
IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF [________________]
CAUSE NO. [________________]
HONORABLE [JUDGE NAME], PRESIDING

[OPENING / RESPONSE / REPLY] BRIEF OF [APPELLANT / APPELLEE]

Submitted by:

[ATTORNEY NAME], MT Bar No. [________]
[FIRM NAME]
[ADDRESS]
[CITY], Montana [ZIP]
Telephone: [________________]
Email: [________________]

Attorney for [APPELLANT / APPELLEE]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Cases

Statutes

Constitutional Provisions

STATEMENT OF ISSUES PRESENTED FOR REVIEW

Issue 1: [________________________________]

Issue 2: [________________________________]

Issue 3: [________________________________]

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

The defendant, [DEFENDANT NAME], was charged by [information / indictment] with [OFFENSE(S)] in violation of Mont. Code Ann. § [SECTION(S)] in the [JUDICIAL DISTRICT] Judicial District Court, [COUNTY] County.

On [DATE], [a jury / the court] [convicted / acquitted] the defendant of [CHARGE(S)]. (Doc. [__])

On [DATE], the District Court sentenced the defendant to [SENTENCE] [with/to the Montana State Prison / Montana Department of Corrections]. (Doc. [__])

A notice of appeal was timely filed on [DATE] pursuant to Mont. Code Ann. § 46-20-204. (Doc. [__])

STATEMENT OF FACTS

[________________________________]

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[________________________________]

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

[________________________________]

ARGUMENT

I. [ISSUE HEADING]

[________________________________]

II. [ISSUE HEADING]

[________________________________]

III. [ISSUE HEADING]

[________________________________]

CONCLUSION

WHEREFORE, [Appellant] respectfully requests that this Court:

☐ Reverse the judgment of conviction and remand for a new trial

☐ Reverse the conviction and order entry of a judgment of acquittal

☐ Vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing

☐ [Other specific relief: ________________________________]

Respectfully submitted,

___________________________________________
[ATTORNEY NAME], MT Bar No. [________]
[FIRM NAME]
[ADDRESS]
[CITY], Montana [ZIP]
Telephone: [________________]
Email: [________________]

Attorney for [APPELLANT / APPELLEE]

Date: [__/__/____]

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE

I hereby certify that this brief complies with M.R. App. P. 11. This brief is printed with a proportionately spaced typeface of 14 points or more and contains [NUMBER] words, excluding the table of contents, table of authorities, certificate of service, certificate of compliance, and appendix.

___________________________________________
[ATTORNEY NAME]

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on [DATE], I served a true and correct copy of the foregoing [Opening / Response / Reply] Brief upon the following by [electronic filing / U.S. Mail / hand delivery]:

[OPPOSING COUNSEL NAME]
[OFFICE / FIRM]
[ADDRESS]
[CITY], Montana [ZIP]

___________________________________________
[ATTORNEY NAME]

APPENDIX

☐ Judgment and Sentence (Doc. [__])

☐ Written Decision / Rationale of the District Court

☐ Relevant Orders (Doc. [__])

☐ Jury Instructions at Issue

☐ Relevant Transcript Pages (Tr. [__])

☐ Table of Contents for Appendix

MONTANA-SPECIFIC NOTES

• Appellate Court: Montana has no intermediate appellate court. All criminal appeals go directly to the Montana Supreme Court. Mont. Const. art. VII, § 2.
• Time to Appeal: 60 days from entry of judgment in criminal cases. Mont. Code Ann. § 46-20-204.
• Word Limits: Principal briefs: 10,000 words; reply/amicus briefs: 5,000 words. M.R. App. P. 11.
• Issue Limitation: Parties are encouraged to limit issues to 4 or fewer. M.R. App. P. 12(1)(b).
• Sentence Review Division: Montana has a Sentence Review Division (Mont. Code Ann. § 46-18-901 et seq.) for reviewing sentences; separate from direct appeal.
• Anders Brief: If appointed counsel finds no meritorious issues, the procedure under Anders v. California applies. State v. Kougl, 2004 MT 243.
• Preservation: Issues must be raised at the trial level to be preserved. Unpreserved issues reviewed only for plain error under State v. Finley, 276 Mont. 126 (1996).