Criminal Appeal Brief

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

APPELLANT'S BRIEF

Attorney for Defendant-Appellant:

[________________________________]
[________________________________] (RI Bar No. [________________________________])
[________________________________]
[________________________________], Rhode Island [________________________________]
Telephone: [________________________________]
Email: [________________________________]

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Cases

Statutes

Rules

I. STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES

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

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

3. [________________________________]

II. STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND TRAVEL

On or about [__/__/____], an ☐ Information / ☐ Indictment was returned in the Superior Court, [________________________________] County, charging Defendant-Appellant with:

[Summarize pretrial motions, rulings, and proceedings.]

[________________________________]

On [__/__/____], the case proceeded to ☐ jury trial / ☐ bench trial / ☐ Defendant entered a plea of ☐ guilty / ☐ nolo contendere.

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

[________________________________]

On [__/__/____], the Superior Court sentenced Defendant-Appellant to:

[________________________________]

(Tr. [____]; App. [____].)

Defendant-Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal on [__/__/____].

III. STATEMENT OF FACTS

A. State's Case

[________________________________]

(Tr. [____].)

B. Defense Case

[________________________________]

(Tr. [____].)

C. Rebuttal (if any)

[________________________________]

(Tr. [____].)

IV. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Issue 1: [________________________________]

☐ De novo review applies to questions of law and constitutional issues. (State v. Bido, 941 A.2d 822, 828 (R.I. 2008).)

☐ Abuse of discretion applies to the trial justice's discretionary rulings, including evidentiary matters and sentencing. (State v. Gaspar, 982 A.2d 140 (R.I. 2009).)

☐ Sufficiency of the evidence — the court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and determines whether any rational trier of fact could have found the elements beyond a reasonable doubt. (State v. Kholi, 672 A.2d 429 (R.I. 1996).)

☐ Clearly erroneous applies to the trial court's findings of fact. (State v. Oliveira, 882 A.2d 1097 (R.I. 2005).)

Issue 2: [________________________________]

V. ARGUMENT

A. [ISSUE ONE HEADING IN CAPS]

[________________________________]

1. Relevant Proceedings Below

[________________________________]

(Tr. [____]; App. [____].)

2. Applicable Legal Principles

[________________________________]

3. Analysis

[________________________________]

4. Prejudice / Harmless Error

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

☐ Under State v. Vargas, 218 A.3d 513 (R.I. 2019), the non-constitutional error was prejudicial because it affected the outcome of the trial.

[________________________________]

B. [ISSUE TWO HEADING IN CAPS]

[________________________________]

1. Relevant Proceedings Below

[________________________________]

(Tr. [____]; App. [____].)

2. Applicable Legal Principles

[________________________________]

3. Analysis

[________________________________]

4. Prejudice / Harmless Error

[________________________________]

C. [ADDITIONAL ISSUES AS NEEDED]

[________________________________]

VI. CONCLUSION

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

☐ Reverse the judgment of conviction.
☐ Reverse and remand for a new trial.
☐ Modify the judgment as follows: [________________________________].
☐ Vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing.
☐ [________________________________]

Respectfully submitted,

Date: [__/__/____]

_________________________________________
[ATTORNEY NAME]
Attorney for Defendant-Appellant

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, [________________________________], 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
☐ Electronic filing/service via the Rhode Island Judiciary eFiling system
☐ Hand delivery

Date: [__/__/____]

_________________________________________
[ATTORNEY NAME]

STATE-SPECIFIC NOTES FOR RHODE ISLAND

1. No Intermediate Appellate Court: Rhode Island has no intermediate appellate court. All criminal appeals go directly to the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

2. Prebriefing Statement: A prebriefing statement (summary of issues to be argued) must be filed within 20 days of docketing, limited to 10 pages. (R.I. Sup. Ct. R. App. P. 12A.)

3. Show-Cause Calendar: The Supreme Court may place cases on the show-cause calendar for possible summary disposition. (State v. Feng, 421 A.2d 1258 (R.I. 1980).)

4. Cover Colors: Appellant's brief = blue; Appellee's brief = red; Intervenor/amicus = green; Reply = gray. (R.I. Sup. Ct. R. App. P. 16(f).)

5. Appendix Required: The appellant must prepare a separate appendix containing relevant docket entries, pleadings, charge, findings, and the judgment or order being appealed. (R.I. Sup. Ct. R. App. P. 18.)

6. Briefing Schedule: Appellant's brief due 40 days after order; Appellee's brief due 30 days after appellant's brief; Reply brief due 21 days after appellee's brief.

7. Nolo Contendere Pleas: Rhode Island permits nolo contendere pleas. An appeal after such a plea may be limited to specific issues.

8. 2026 Rule Amendments: The Supreme Court entered an administrative order on January 6, 2026, amending multiple provisions of Article I governing appellate procedure. Verify current rules before filing.