What is an appeal?
An Appeal requests a higher court to overturn or reverse the conviction or sentence of the lower court. All defendants who have been convicted following a trial have a right to appeal. An appeal is based solely on the trial court record. The record consists of the Reporter’s Transcript on Appeal which reflects everything that was said and reported during pre-trial and trial proceedings and the Clerk’s Transcript on Appeal which includes all motions and any other documents filed with the court. These materials, along with any exhibits which were received in evidence, constitute the record on appeal. Appellate counsel studies the record on appeal and prepares appellate briefs, setting forth the legal arguments for reversing the conviction or sentence. These legal arguments must be based on the record on appeal. On appeal, the appellate court will not consider new or different evidence than that which was presented during pretrial and trial proceedings. Contact Ms. Klein abbyklein@socalcr
