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. Certificate of Compliance
10. Certificate of Service

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF VERMONT

APPELLANT'S BRIEF

Attorney for Defendant-Appellant:

[________________________________]
[________________________________] (VT Bar No. [________________________________])
[________________________________]
[________________________________], Vermont [________________________________]
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. [________________________________]

II. STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On or about [__/__/____], an ☐ Information / ☐ Indictment was filed in the [________________________________] Unit of the Criminal Division of the Superior Court, charging Defendant-Appellant with:

[Summarize pretrial proceedings, motions, and rulings.]

[________________________________]

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 trial court sentenced Defendant-Appellant to:

[________________________________]

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

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

III. STATEMENT OF FACTS

A. State's Evidence

[________________________________]

(Tr. [____].)

B. Defense Evidence

[________________________________]

(Tr. [____].)

C. Rebuttal (if any)

[________________________________]

(Tr. [____].)

IV. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Issue 1: [________________________________]

☐ De novo review applies to questions of law, including constitutional issues and statutory interpretation. (State v. Grega, 168 Vt. 363, 721 A.2d 445 (1998).)

☐ Abuse of discretion applies to discretionary rulings, including evidentiary matters and sentencing. (State v. Hulburt, 2015 VT 25.)

☐ Sufficiency of the evidence — the court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, excluding modifying evidence, and determines whether the evidence fairly and reasonably tends to convince a reasonable trier of fact that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. (State v. Durenleau, 163 Vt. 8, 652 A.2d 981 (1994).)

☐ Plain error applies to unpreserved issues. The error must be obvious, substantial, and affect the fundamental fairness of the proceedings. (State v. Bhatt, 2016 VT 43.)

Issue 2: [________________________________]

V. ARGUMENT

A. [ISSUE ONE HEADING IN CAPS]

[________________________________]

1. Relevant Proceedings Below

[________________________________]

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

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. Oscarson, 2004 VT 4, the non-constitutional error was not harmless because there is a reasonable possibility that the error affected the verdict.

[________________________________]

B. [ISSUE TWO HEADING IN CAPS]

[________________________________]

1. Relevant Proceedings Below

[________________________________]

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

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 COMPLIANCE

Pursuant to V.R.A.P. 32(a)(4), I certify that this brief complies with the word-count limitation and contains [________________________________] words, as counted by [________________________________] word-processing program.

Date: [__/__/____]

_________________________________________
[ATTORNEY NAME]

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 via the Vermont Judiciary eFiling system
☐ Hand delivery

Date: [__/__/____]

_________________________________________
[ATTORNEY NAME]

STATE-SPECIFIC NOTES FOR VERMONT

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

2. Word Count Limitation: Briefs must comply with the word-count limitation in V.R.A.P. 32(a)(4). A word-count certification is required.

3. Notice of Appeal: Must be filed within 30 days after entry of the judgment or order appealed from. (V.R.A.P. 4(b).)

4. Printed Case Required: As of January 1, 2024, appellants must file a printed case containing relevant portions of the record at the same time the Appellant's brief is filed. (V.R.A.P. 30.)

5. Briefing Schedule: Appellant's brief due 40 days after record is filed; Appellee's brief due 30 days after Appellant's brief; Reply brief due 21 days after Appellee's brief.

6. Preservation of Issues: Issues must generally be raised and ruled upon in the trial court. Unpreserved errors are reviewed only for plain error. (State v. Bhatt, 2016 VT 43.)

7. Vermont Constitution: Vermont has an independent state constitutional analysis that may provide broader protections than the federal constitution in some areas. (Vt. Const. Ch. I, Art. 11 — search and seizure.)

8. Sentence Review: Vermont has a sentence review process separate from direct appeal. (13 V.S.A. §§ 7042-7044.)