Criminal Appeal Brief - Pennsylvania

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Cover Page
2. Table of Authorities
3. Statement of Jurisdiction
4. Order in Question
5. Statement of Scope and Standard of Review
6. Statement of Questions Involved
7. Statement of the Case
8. Summary of Argument
9. Argument
10. Conclusion
11. Certificate of Compliance
12. Certificate of Service
13. Appendix

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered in the Court of Common Pleas of [________________________________] County, Criminal Division

BRIEF FOR APPELLANT

Attorney for Appellant:

[________________________________]
Pa. I.D. No. [________________________________]
[________________________________]
[________________________________], Pennsylvania [________________________________]
Telephone: [________________________________]
Email: [________________________________]

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Cases

Statutes

Rules

STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION

This Court has jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. § 742, which grants the Superior Court of Pennsylvania exclusive appellate jurisdiction of appeals from final orders of the courts of common pleas, subject to classes of appeals assigned exclusively to the Supreme Court or Commonwealth Court.

The trial court entered the judgment of sentence on [__/__/____]. (R. [____].)

☐ Appellant filed a timely post-sentence motion on [__/__/____], which was denied on [__/__/____]. Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal on [__/__/____], within 30 days of the denial. (R. [____].)

☐ Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal on [__/__/____], within 30 days of sentencing. No post-sentence motion was filed. (R. [____].)

The trial court issued its Rule 1925(b) order on [__/__/____]. Appellant filed a timely statement of errors complained of on appeal on [__/__/____]. (R. [____].)

ORDER IN QUESTION

The order appealed from is the Judgment of Sentence entered on [__/__/____], which states:

[Insert verbatim text of the sentencing order]

[________________________________]

(R. [____].)

STATEMENT OF SCOPE AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

Issue 1: [________________________________]

☐ Scope: Plenary (the entire record is reviewable).
☐ Standard: De novo review applies to questions of law. (Commonwealth v. Widmer, 744 A.2d 745, 751 (Pa. 2000).)

Issue 2: [________________________________]

☐ Standard: Abuse of discretion applies to discretionary rulings, including evidentiary rulings and sentencing. (Commonwealth v. Widmer, 744 A.2d 745, 753 (Pa. 2000).)

Issue 3: [________________________________]

☐ Standard: Sufficiency of the evidence — viewing the evidence and all reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the court must determine whether the trier of fact could have found every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. (Commonwealth v. Hawk, 709 A.2d 373, 376 (Pa. 1998).)

☐ Standard: Weight of the evidence — the court must determine whether the verdict was so contrary to the evidence as to shock one's sense of justice. (Commonwealth v. Widmer, 744 A.2d 745, 751-52 (Pa. 2000).)

STATEMENT OF QUESTIONS INVOLVED

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

Answer of Court Below: [________________________________]

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

Answer of Court Below: [________________________________]

3. [________________________________]?

Answer of Court Below: [________________________________]

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

A. Procedural History

On [__/__/____], Appellant was charged by ☐ Criminal Information / ☐ Indictment with:

[Summarize pretrial proceedings.]

[________________________________]

The case proceeded to ☐ jury trial / ☐ bench trial / ☐ guilty plea on [__/__/____].

On [__/__/____], the ☐ jury returned a verdict of / ☐ court found Appellant:

[________________________________]

(R. [____]; N.T. [____].)

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

[________________________________]

(R. [____]; N.T. [____].)

B. Statement of Facts

[________________________________]

(N.T. [____].)

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

[________________________________]

ARGUMENT

I. [ISSUE ONE HEADING]

A. Preservation and Standard of Review

[________________________________]

B. Argument

[________________________________]

(N.T. [____]; R. [____].)

C. Harmless Error Analysis

☐ Constitutional error: The error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because [________________________________]. (Commonwealth v. Story, 383 A.2d 155 (Pa. 1978).)

☐ Non-constitutional error: The error was not harmless because it could have affected the verdict. (Commonwealth v. Thornton, 431 A.2d 248 (Pa. 1981).)

[________________________________]

II. [ISSUE TWO HEADING]

A. Preservation and Standard of Review

[________________________________]

B. Argument

[________________________________]

III. [ISSUE THREE HEADING]

[________________________________]

CONCLUSION

WHEREFORE, Appellant respectfully requests that this Honorable Court:

☐ Reverse the judgment of sentence and discharge Appellant.
☐ Reverse the judgment of sentence and remand for a new trial.
☐ Vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing.
☐ [________________________________]

Respectfully submitted,

_________________________________________
[ATTORNEY NAME]
Pa. I.D. No. [________________________________]
Attorney for Appellant

Date: [__/__/____]

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE

I certify that this filing complies with the provisions of the Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania: Case Records of the Appellate and Trial Courts that require filing confidential information and documents differently than non-confidential information and documents.

I further certify that this brief complies with the word count limitations of Pa.R.A.P. 2135(a)(1). Based on the word count of the word-processing system used to prepare this brief, the brief contains [________________________________] words, exclusive of the supplementary matter described in Pa.R.A.P. 2135(b).

_________________________________________
[ATTORNEY NAME]

Date: [__/__/____]

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on [__/__/____], I served a true and correct copy of the foregoing Brief for Appellant upon the following by:

☐ First-class U.S. mail, postage prepaid
☐ Electronic filing via PACFile
☐ Personal delivery

_________________________________________
[NAME]

Date: [__/__/____]

APPENDIX

☐ Appendix A: Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) Statement of Errors Complained of on Appeal
☐ Appendix B: Trial Court's Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a) Opinion
☐ Appendix C: Judgment of Sentence
☐ Appendix D: Verdict Sheet / Guilty Plea Colloquy
☐ Appendix E: [________________________________]

STATE-SPECIFIC NOTES FOR PENNSYLVANIA

1. Notice of Appeal: Must be filed within 30 days of the entry of the order from which the appeal is taken. (Pa.R.A.P. 903(a).) If a post-sentence motion is filed, the notice of appeal is due within 30 days of the disposition of that motion.

2. Post-Sentence Motion: Under Pa.R.Crim.P. 720, a post-sentence motion must be filed within 10 days of sentencing. The motion is decided within 120 days; otherwise, it is denied by operation of law.

3. Rule 1925(b) Statement: The trial court typically issues a Rule 1925(b) order directing the appellant to file a concise statement of errors complained of on appeal. This must be filed within 21 days. Failure to comply results in waiver of all issues. (Commonwealth v. Lord, 719 A.2d 306 (Pa. 1998).)

4. Word/Page Limit: Principal briefs: 14,000 words or 30 pages. Reply briefs: 7,000 words or 15 pages. (Pa.R.A.P. 2135(a)(1).)

5. Anders/Santiago Brief: In Pennsylvania, counsel seeking to withdraw from a frivolous appeal must comply with Commonwealth v. Santiago, 978 A.2d 349 (Pa. 2009), filing a brief identifying anything in the record that might support the appeal and a petition to withdraw.

6. Discretionary Sentencing Challenges: To challenge the discretionary aspects of a sentence, the appellant must include a separate Pa.R.A.P. 2119(f) statement in the brief establishing a substantial question that the sentence is not appropriate. (Commonwealth v. Tuladziecki, 522 A.2d 17 (Pa. 1987).)

7. PCRA vs. Direct Appeal: Ineffective-assistance claims ordinarily are deferred for review in a timely proceeding under the Post Conviction Relief Act (42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541–9546), subject to recognized exceptions. An issue may be waived under 42 Pa.C.S. § 9544(b) when it could have been raised and was not raised at the specified earlier stage.

8. Allowance of Appeal to Supreme Court: After the Superior Court decision, a petition for allowance of appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court must be filed within 30 days. (Pa.R.A.P. 1113(a).)