After you have been convicted of crime or been found liable in a civil case after a jury or court trial, often times the only remedy you have is to appeal your case to a higher court. In Colorado , these appeals are governed by specific rules and time frames that must be complied with or you will lose this very valuable right. The following is a very brief breakdown of the appeal process from Colorado County and district courts to higher courts of review.
Appeals from County or Municipal Court to District Court
1. Criminal or Traffic Convictions
If you have been convicted of a misdemeanor crime or a traffic offense, you can appeal the conviction and sentence of the county court to the district court of that judicial district. In such a case, the party seeking review in the district court is referred to as the Appellant and the prosecution, usually represented by the local district attorney's office, is referred to as the Appellee.
Time is of the essence when appealing a criminal case from the county court to the district court. Per 16-2-114, C.R.S and Crim. P. Rule 37, the notice of appeal must be filed in the County Court within 30 days of the entry of judgment (the sentencing date or the date of denial of a post conviction motion), and then a separate notice docketing the appeal and paying the docketing fee must be filed with the district court. All district courts in Colorado are now requiring these appeals, which are listed by civil case numbers in the district court (CV), to be filed electronically. This is not that difficult other than you must have an account with Lexis/Nexis and each judicial district has different rules as to the docket fees and some automatically require the posting of an appeal bond. To make sure there is no possibility of the case being denied docketing for a monetary error, I find it best to always call the clerk of court and get a definitive answer on fees and any bonds to be posted. I do this on every appeal, even in districts where I file appeals regularly. Better safe than sorry when it comes to time deadlines that can cost a client his right to appeal.
At the time of filing the notice of appeal, a designation of record should also be filed with the county court and a courtesy copy filed with the district court. The record on appeal is the most important part of preparing an appeal because no issues can be raised in the district court that are not part of the record. Because of this, it is important not to wait until day 29 to decide whether you would like to appeal your case. An attorney needs to be able to review the county court's minute orders and register of actions to determine which transcripts are needed for the record on appeal. Transcripts can become very expensive and ordering transcripts of court appearances when all that transpired was setting the case over for another court date can be a waste of time and resources. The appellant is the one responsible for paying the cost of preparing the record on appeal, so keeping costs in check is something an appellate lawyer always keeps in mind.
The record on appeal is required to be certified to the district court within 40 days of the entry of judgment. Since most notices of appeal and designations of record are not filed until 30 days after entry of judgment, it is not very realistic to expect a court reporter or transcription service to prepare the transcripts within 10 days. Typically what happens is additional time is needed and it is the Appellant's duty to request additional time for preparation of the record. It is therefore important to communicate regularly with the appeals clerk and whoever is preparing the transcripts to find out if additional time is needed. If it is, then the appellant files a motion for extension of time with the district court.
Once the record on appeal has been certified to the district court, the Appellant only has 20 days to file his opening brief arguing the issues on appeal. A brief is simply a written document setting forth the facts as presented in the county court, the issues that the appellant claims were erroneously decided, the applicable case law and statutes and the arguments for the party's position. The Appellee then has 20 days to file an answer brief arguing the prosecution's position on the issues raised by the appellant. After service of the answer brief on the appellant, the appellant may file within 10 days a reply brief to address the points raised by the prosecution. All of these time frames may be expanded upon filing and granting of a request for additional time in the district court.
After the appeal is submitted on written briefs, the district court may request oral arguments but this is very rarely ever done. Typically, the case stands submitted on the written arguments and the district court issues a written ruling.
If the district court agrees with the appellant's position, the judgment of the county court is typically reversed and the case is remanded for a new trial. In rare cases, such as when there is a violation of the defendant's right to a speedy trial, the case can be dismissed outright by the district court.
If the district court disagrees with the appellant's issues on appeal, the district court will affirm the county court's decision. If this happens, the case is finalized unless the appellant files a petition for certiorari review with the Colorado Supreme Court. However, the Colorado Supreme Court has discretion as to what cases it will or will not hear. Getting a case accepted by the Colorado Supreme Court on certiorari from a district court appeal of a county court case is very rare. However, if a party feels the district court has clearly erred and there is an issue of importance the Supreme Court would be interested in, this is the only further avenue of review to pursue and it is possible the Court would like to hear the case.
