Colorado Appellate Law Attorney

If you have been convicted of a crime, you have the right to appeal to a higher court. An appeal in the state courts of Colorado is a review of any legal mistakes the trial court might have made. This means that on appeal, your lawyer will review the documents filed and the transcripts of all hearings held by the original court. Together, this is called the “record.”

The appellate courts in Colorado decide whether the lower court (the trial judge) made any legal errors. They base their decision on the record and the arguments of the parties–in a criminal case, the parties are the person charged (the defendant) and the government, or prosecution. The parties present their arguments to the courts in documents called briefs.

Sometimes an appellate lawyer presents oral argument, which is an opportunity to stand before the judges deciding the case and try to persuade them of the merits of the lawyer’s position. The judges will ask the lawyers questions about the law and its applicability to the case they’re deciding.

Eventually, the appellate court will make a decision upholding the trial court’s decision, overturning it, or partially agreeing or disagreeing with it.

Your lawyer in trial court must file a notice of appeal in the time limit specified by the appellate rules of the court to which you’re appealing.

Then, the trial court prepares the record for the appellate lawyers to review. This is largely determined by how long it takes for the court reporters to provide transcripts.

From there, the appeals lawyer will file an opening brief for the person appealing (the “appellant”). The opposing side will file an answer brief, and the appellant may file a reply. There may or may not be oral argument after the briefs have been filed.

The appellate court will issue its decision after considering all the written and oral arguments by the parties. This can take months or even over a year depending on the complexity of the case.

It is incredibly difficult to experience a loved one in custody. The stress of separation is hard on everyone.

First, you must do what is necessary to care for yourself and the rest of your family. As flight attendants say, “put on your own oxygen mask before helping someone else with theirs.” It is crucial to prioritize self-care and resiliency.

Second, stay in communication if it is possible and healthy to do so. Many jails and prisons have in-person visits, video visits, phone calls, and/or texts available to help communication. If you have children, there are specific programs available to you to help maintain the bond between the children and their incarcerated loved one, like reading aloud programs.

Feel free to reach out to your loved one’s lawyer to get clarity about what is likely to happen. Ask for realistic assessments of the situation and what you can do.

But recognize that a lawyer’s duty is to their client, so they may not be able to share as much information as you would like. This is not intended to keep you out of the loop—the law requires that lawyers scrupulously adhere to confidentiality rules.

In Colorado state courts, Rule 35 (c) is the mechanism by which people can file a “collateral attack” on their conviction. An appeal is a direct attack. A collateral attack asks the trial court to overturn someone’s conviction on limited grounds. These are usually things like:

• their lawyer did not handle their case competently—this is called “ineffective assistance of counsel”
• the government withheld information that could have helped them—this is called Brady information after a U.S. Supreme Court case, Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963)
• new evidence was recently uncovered
• the law has changed

A 35 (c) proceeding usually involves extensive investigation and presenting evidence to the original trial court.