Appeals

An appeal is when someone that loses at least part of a case asks a higher court (called an "Appellate Court") to review the decision and say if it was right. This is called "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." The person that appeals is called the "appellant." The other person is called the "appellee" or "respondent." Generally in an appeal, a higher court reviews the order or judgment of a lower court to see if there was enough evidence to support the judgment or whether errors of law were committed during or before trial, which prejudiced the appealing party.

• If the original decision was made by the Superior Court in an unlimited civil case, the appeal is to the Court of Appeals.
• If the decision being appealed from was in a limited civil case or concerned a misdemeanor or infraction, the appeal is to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court.

Most appeals are limited to a review of the record from the lower court. Parties cannot introduce new evidence, but are limited to what was said and introduced at the original trial. The appellate court reviews the lower court’s application of the law to the facts as presented at the trial.

In some cases, however, such as an appeal from a small claims court, the appellate court conducts what is called a "trial de novo," meaning a "trial from the beginning." In those cases, the reviewing court is not bound by the decision of the small claims judge, and new evidence can be presented.

The procedures that apply to appeals are found in California Rules of Court, which may be accessed clicking here. The rules beginning at C.R.C. Rule 121 govern appeals to the Appellate Division of Superior Court from limited civil cases. The rules beginning at CRC Rule 151 cover appeals from small claims cases. And the rules beginning at CRC Rule 181 cover appeals from misdemeanor and infraction cases.

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Substantive matters relating to appeals from limited civil courts and misdemeanor and infraction cases are still governed by statute. These include:

1. Which judgments and orders are appealable (CCP §904.2 lists what judgments and orders are appealable in limited civil cases, and Penal Code §1466 lists the judgments and orders appealable in misdemeanor and infraction cases); infra, §29).
2. Scope of review (see e.g. CCP §906)
3. Fact-finding powers of reviewing court (see CCP §909).

The California Court of Appeal Step by Step

Information on this page tells you about:

Timing
Appointment of Counsel
Record on Appeal
Criminal Cases
Limited Civil Cases
Opening Brief
Abandonment or Dismissal
Fees/Costs
Other Resources

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Timing

These time limits are "jurisdictional," meaning that the court has no power to allow additional time for filing the notice of appeal.

The Judicial Council has forms that can be used for noticing an appeal from a small claims case (SC-140), a traffic/infraction case (TR-155), and a misdemeanor criminal case (CR-130). For appeals from limited civil cases, the "Notice of Appeal" can be typewritten on regular or pleading paper.

CRC Rule 123 (for civil cases) and Rule 186 (for criminal cases) authorize the appellate court to extend the time or relieve a party from default in relation to many of the things required for prosecuting an appeal, but these rules do not allow the court to extend the time for filing a notice of appeal.

Appointment of Counsel

Record on Appeal

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Criminal Cases

This statement, described in Rule 184, includes the following:

1. The grounds for the appeal (i.e. a statement of the legal errors the appellant believes were made by the court)
2. A statement that the appellant intends to request an official transcript of the trial or proceeding being appealed from, or statement summarizing the evidence or trial proceedings relevant to each ground for the appeal. If the trial was recorded, the appellant can obtain a copy of the recording and produce his or her own summary or transcript. If a court reporter was present, the appellant can request that the reporter make a transcript of the trial or other proceedings being appealed from.

See Judicial Council form TR-160 for a form that can be used for this Proposed Statement in infraction cases.

The District Attorney has the right to filed proposed amendments to the appellant’s Proposed Statement, and the trial judge can correct, change or re-write the statement so it fairly describes the evidence and proceedings in the trial court. The trial judge can also ask the appellant to prepare a revised statement. Once the revised statement is prepared, the trial judge certifies its correctness, and this is designated as the "Settled Statement". See Rule 187 and Judicial Council instructions for appeals from infractions (TR-150).

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Limited Civil Cases

The "Clerk’s Transcript" is a compilation of the documents filed in the lower court. The notice filed by the appellant within 10 days of filing the notice of appeal designates which records from the trial court file he or she wants submitted to the Appellate Division. If no specific documents are designated, the clerk of the trial court will prepare the records described in CRC Rule 125(d). There is a charge for the clerk’s transcript of the lower court proceedings, unless the appellant has an approved fee waiver on file.

A "Reporter’s Transcript" is a verbatim record of the oral proceedings in the court. A reporter’s transcript is not required for an appeal (since a "settled statement" can be used where the proceedings were not recorded by a court reporter or can be effectively summarized without a verbatim transcript), but is often requested. Where the appellant wants to appeal an issue that requires consideration of the oral proceedings (including jury instructions given or refused) he or she must include as part of the designation of records a notice to prepare a reporter’s transcript of the oral proceedings. See Rule 124.

This notice must identify the date of each proceeding to be included in the transcript. The trial court clerk transmits this notice to the court reporter(s) that was present at the designated proceeding(s), and the court reporter notifies the appellant of the estimated cost of preparing the reporter’s transcript. Within 10 days after notification by the reporter of the cost of the transcript, the appellant must deposit that amount with the clerk. The reporter then has 20 days to complete the transcript and certify it.

If the reporter fails or is unable to prepare the transcript, the appellant can seek leave to prepare a settled statement instead. See Rule 125(e). And if the appellant chooses not to request a reporters transcript and to instead proceed with an "agreed" or "settled" statement summarizing the evidence or proceedings on which the appeal is based, he or she can proceed as described in Rules 126 or 127.

Opening Brief

Per Rule 105(c), the opening brief must concisely describe the law and facts relied on by the appellant in claiming that the trial court erred in making the judgment or order being appealed from. As noted above, function of an appellate court is to review errors of law, not to make factual determinations. A trial court judgment or order will only be reversed if the court made an erroneous ruling on a legal issue or if there was "no substantial evidence" to support the judgment. The opening brief must explain the legal basis for asking the appellate court to reverse the trial court’s judgment or order, with specific reference to the parts of the record and case law or statute supporting each argument made in the appeal.

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Abandonment or Dismissal

Fees/Costs

In limited civil cases, the fee for filing a notice of appeal is $90. In addition, there will be a charge for preparation of a Reporter’s Transcript if one is requested, and for preparation of the Clerk’s Transcript if a valid fee waiver order is not on file. In addition, the prevailing party in an appeal is generally entitled to recover his or her costs, and if the court finds that the appeal was frivolous, he or she may also be subject to monetary sanctions. See Rule 135.

Other Resources

The California Rules of Court and Judicial Council forms are also available on-line at http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/ (Note: this is a link found on Useful Links button on home page) That cite also has links to other sources of information and assistance.

If you wish to speak with an attorney concerning your appeal, you can contact:

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