Filing an Appeal

Before you file an appeal, you should read this information carefully.  You are responsible for preparing all documents and doing any legal research you feel is necessary.  The clerk cannot advise you on any legal issues or advise you as to the content of any papers required.

The information contained in this page does not apply to appeals from a small claims judgment.

When you appeal, you are asking the appellate court to review a decision of the trial judge because you disagree with it.  The Court cannot review questions of fact.  It can only decide if there was an error of law that was serious enough to have prevented you from having a fair trial.

The Appellate court cannot retry the case.  No witnesses can be heard, and the Court cannot consider any evidence that was not presented at trial.  It cannot consider conflicting evidence or choose to believe you instead of the other witnesses.  The trial judge's determinations of credibility and conflicts in the evidence are binding in the appellate court.  The appellate court can only look at the record on appeal and decide whether the trial judge's decision in the case is supported by substantial evidence.

The things you must do to be sure your appeal will be heard are in the California Rules of Court.  California Rules 101 through 108 apply to all appeals.  Rules 121 through 144 apply to civil appeals, and Rules 182 through 191 apply to appeals of traffic infractions and criminal cases.  If you do not follow the rules carefully, you may lose the chance to have your appeal considered.

All papers filed with the Court must be served on the opposing party or that party's lawyer and must have a valid proof of service attached.

The most important act in an appeal is filing the written notice of appeal.  This notice must be filed with the Appeals unit before the deadline.  There are many time limits and regulations in proceeding with an appeal.  Please read the California Rules of Court to verify that you meet the time limits for every step.  Failure to meet some time limits may result in dismissal of your appeal.

If you do not file the notice of appeal on time, the appellate court cannot consider your case.

Appeals can be filed at the Clerks Office, located at 500 Argonaut Lane, Jackson, CA.  Office hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays

The filing fee for lower Court appeals (Limited Civil, Small Claims, and Unlawful Detainer action) may be found on the Fees page.  Checks or money orders should be made payable to the Amador Superior Court, and are required at the time of filing.  The Amador Superior Court requires a check or money order deposit (made payable to Amador Superior Court) for the clerk's transcript. (see information below)

Fee Waivers

If you cannot afford to pay Court fees and costs, you may qualify for a waiver of those costs.  If you income is not enough to pay for the common necessities of life fore yourself and the people you support and also pay Court fees and costs, you may obtain the Application for Waiver of Court Fees and Cost form from the Clerks Office.  There is no charge for the application packet.

Briefs

After the record is filed in the appellate court, you will receive a notice telling you when to file your brief.  The proposed statement you filed (Rule 184) is not the same as a brief (Rule 105).  A brief is your chance to tell the appellate court, in writing, what legal errors were made at trial and why your case should be reversed.  You should not just restate the facts as you believe they exist, but should refer to the facts in the record and state the law that should be applied.  The brief must be no longer than 15 pages.  It should tell the Court what laws and cases you think apply to your case and why the trial Court was wrong.

Hearings

When the appeal is sent to the appellate court, a time is set for oral argument and the clerk notifies you of the date of the hearing and the date of your opening brief is due.  Oral argument will be set far enough in advance so that there will be enough time to get all briefs filed.

You must request oral arguments by the deadline date if you want to argue your case at a hearing.  If you do not notify the Court in the time period set forth in the notes you may waive your right to oral argument.  If you attend the hearing, you cannot present witnesses or evidence at the hearing.  The Court will only consider what you have presented in your written materials.  The judges will have read your briefs and the record, so try to stress the important points rather than reading your brief to the Court.  After hearing, you will be informed by mail of the decision.

Transcripts

For the appellate court to understand what happened in the trial Court, a record must be prepared.  There are two types of records, the clerk's transcript and a reporter's transcript.

• Clerk's Transcript
  The clerk's transcript is prepared by the Clerk of the Amador Superior Court and includes exhibits and documents filed by the parties.  The whole file is not sent to the appellate court.  In criminal cases, the clerk will include most of the necessary papers, but if you want to be sure that particular documents are part of the record, you should designate them (Rule 183).  In Civil cases, the appellant (the person who is appealing) must tell the clerk, in writing, what papers to include (Rule 125).  If you do not do this, you will be in default and must ask for relief from the appellate court (Rule 143b).  The original clerk of the Court will notify the parties by mail of estimated costs for preparing the clerk's transcript or Superior Court file.  These costs must be timely paid before a clerk's transcript will be prepared.
  
• Reporter's Transcript
  In most appeals it is necessary to have the testimony from the trial presented to the appellate court.  A transcript of the testimony may be established by a reporter's transcript, a settled statement, or in civil cases only, an agreed statement.  California Rules of Court, Rules 124, 126 & 127 for civil cases and Rules 184-187 for criminal and traffic cases set forth the procedures you must follow for each method of establishing a record of the testimony.  A transcript is not available in all cases.  If you decide to use a transcript in traffic cases, you must order one from the traffic appeals clerk.  A fee will be charged for transcripts unless the Court orders otherwise after a hearing for free transcripts on appeal.

Without a record of the testimony, you may lose your appeal because the appellate court will not be able to consider the question of whether there was enough evidence to support the trial court's decision.  In Superior Court criminal appeal cases, a reporter's transcript is automatically prepared.  In lower Court criminal appeal cases, a reporter's transcript must be specifically and timely requested (Rule 184).  In civil case appeals, reporter's transcripts are optional and can be designated (Rule 4 for Superior Court cases and Rule 125 for lower Court cases).  Fees are required, payable upon filing the designation in Superior Court cases.

Prior to filing the designation, contact the offices of the Court Reporter at 209-257-2618 for estimated costs.  Checks are made payable to the Court Reporter of record.