Handbook for Criminal Appeals in the Seventh Circuit Second Edition

191 Pages·2012·0.96 MB·English

Handbook for Criminal Appeals
in the Seventh Circuit
Second Edition
Federal Public Defender
Central District of Illinois
Contributors
Jonathan E. Hawley
Federal Public Defender
Johanna M. Christiansen
Appellate Division Chief
Andrew J. McGowan
Appellate Division Staff Attorney
Elisabeth R. Pollock
Appellate Division Staff Attorney
A. Brian Threlkeld
Appellate Division Staff Attorney
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Initiating the Appeal.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.01: Becoming Counsel on Appeal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.02: Obtaining in Forma Pauperis Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.03: Moving to Withdraw as Counsel on Appeal.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.04: The Notice of Appeal.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.04.01: Time for Filing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.04.02: Untimely Notice of Appeal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.04.03: Contents of the Notice of Appeal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.05: The Docketing Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.06: The Disclosure Statement.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Chapter 2: Gathering and Reviewing Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.01: The Docket Sheets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.01.01 The District Court Docket Sheet.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.01.02: The Appellate Court Docket Sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.02: The Record. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.02.01: Obtaining the Record. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.02.02: Contents of the Record. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.02.03: Supplementing the Record.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.02.04: Items under Seal.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.02.05: Reviewing the Record.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
The Information or Indictment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Pretrial Motions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Plea Agreement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Change of Plea Hearing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The Trial Documents.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The PSR.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Objections to the PSR, Sentencing Memoranda, and other
Sentencing Motions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The Sentencing Hearing Transcript. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The Judgment in a Criminal Case.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.03: The Transcripts.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.03.01: When to Order. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.03.02: How to Order.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.03.03: What to Order. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.03.04: Delayed Transcripts.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.04: The Presentence Investigation Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
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Chapter 3: Motions and Miscellaneous Pleadings.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.01: General Rules Governing Motions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.01.01: Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 27.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.01.02: Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 25 and
Circuit Rule 25... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.02: Motions for Extension of Time.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.03: Motion to Voluntarily Dismiss the Appeal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.04: Motion to Waive Oral Argument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.05: Motion to Expedite Appeal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.06: Citation of Supplemental Authorities.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.07: Motion to Deconsolidate Appeals.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.08: Motion to Withdraw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.09: Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.10: Status Report.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Chapter 4: Research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.01: Spotting the Issues.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.02: Keeping Current with the Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.03: Researching Specific Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Chapter 5: Briefs .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.01: Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.02: The Sections of a Brief.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.02.01: Disclosure Statement.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.02.02: Table of Contents.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.02.03: Table of Authorities.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.02.04: Jurisdictional Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.02.05: Issues Presented for Review.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.02.06: Statement of the Case. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
5.02.07: Statement of Facts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5.02.08: Summary of Argument.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
5.02.09: Argument.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
General Structure.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Headings.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Standard of Review.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Brevity.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
5.02.10: Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
5.02.11: Certificate of Compliance with Rule 32(a)(7)(C).. . . . . . . . . 51
5.02.12: Certificate of Compliance with Circuit Rule 31(e). . . . . . . . 52
5.02.13: Appendix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
5.02.14: Certificate of Compliance with Circuit Rule 30.. . . . . . . . . . 54
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5.02.15: Appendix Table of Contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5.03: Filing and Serving the Brief and Other Papers .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.03.01: Filing Deadlines.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 26(c). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
The Mailbox Rule.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5.03.02: The Cover Sheet.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5.03.03: The Number of Copies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.04: The Reply Brief.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.04.01: When to (or not to) File.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.04.02: The Sections of a Reply Brief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.04.03: Filing and Service of the Reply Brief.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Chapter 6: Oral Argument.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
6.01: Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
6.02: The Setting of Oral Argument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
6.03: Preparing for Oral Argument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.03.01: Review the Briefs.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.03.02: Review the Record.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
6.03.03: Outline your Argument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.03.04: Anticipate Questions.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.03.05: Moot Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6.03.06: Search for Recent Precedent.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.04: The Day of Oral Argument.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.05: Decorum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
6.06: Handling “Cold” and “Hot” Panels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
6.07: The Court’s View on Oral Argument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Chapter 7: Post-Decision Pleadings.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
7.01: What to do When you Win.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
7.02: What to do When you Lose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
7.03: Petitions for Panel Rehearing.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
7.03.01: Whether to File.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
7.03.02: Format, Filing, and Service.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
7.04: Petition for Rehearing En Banc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
7.05: Combined Petitions.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
7.06: Petitions for Writ of Certiorari. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
7.06.01: Whether to File.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
7.06.02: Format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Title Page.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Question Presented. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Table of Contents.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
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Table of Authorities Cited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of
Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Opinion Below.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Jurisdiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Constitutional and Statutory Provisions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Statement of the Case. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Statement of Facts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Reasons for Granting the Writ.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Appendix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
7.06.03: Motion for Leave to Proceed In Forma Pauperis.. . . . . . . . . . 85
7.06.04: Filing and Service of the Petition.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
7.07: Closing the Case.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Chapter 8: Client Communications.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
8.01: Introduction.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
8.02: Locating Your Client. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
8.03: The Initial Client Letter.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
8.04: The Opinion Letter.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
8.05: The Anders Letter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
8.06: Status Letters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
8.07: Communicating by Telephone.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
8.08: Visiting in Person.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Chapter 9: Anders Briefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
9.01: Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
9.02: Evaluating the Guilt Phase.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
9.03: Evaluating the Sentencing Phase.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
9.04: Informing the Client. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
9.05: Content and Format.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
9.06: The Motion to Withdraw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
9.07: Disposition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Chapter 10: CJA Vouchers.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
10.01: Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
10.02: How Much Can I Spend?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
10.03: What Can I Spend It On?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
10.03.01: Hours Invested.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
10.03.02: Transcripts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
10.03.03: Travel Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
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10.03.04: Miscellaneous Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
10.03.05: Impermissible Expenditures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
10.04: When Do I Submit My Voucher?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Sample 1: Notice of Non-Involvement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Sample 2: Motion to Proceed on Appeal In Forma Pauperis.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Sample 3: Affidavit in Support of In Forma Pauperis Status.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Sample 4: Status Report.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Sample 5: Notification of IFP Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Sample 6: Motion to Withdraw and Suspend Briefing.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Sample 7: Motion to Extend Time for Filing Notice of Appeal.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Sample 8: Notice of Appeal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Sample 9: Docketing Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Sample 10: Disclosure Statement.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Sample 11: Motion to Supplement the Record on Appeal.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Sample 12: Motion for Copies of Sealed Documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Sample 13: Transcript Information Sheet.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Sample 14: CJA 24 Form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Sample 15: Motion for Transcripts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Sample 16: Motion for Extension of Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Sample 17: Example No. 1 of Affidavit in Support of Motion for Extension of
Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Sample 18: Example No. 2 of Affidavit in Support of Motion for Extension of
Time.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
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Sample 19: Acknowledgment and Consent Form.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Sample 20: Motion to Voluntarily Dismiss Appeal.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Sample 21: Motion to Waive Oral Argument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Sample 22: Acknowledgment and Consent to Waiving Oral Argument. . . . . . 143
Sample 23: Motion to Expedite Appeal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Sample 24: Motion to Deconsolidate.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Sample 25: Table of Contents.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Sample 26: Table of Authorities.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Sample 27: Statement of the Case. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Sample 28: Footnote Explaining Citations in the Brief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Sample 29: Certificate of Compliance.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Sample 30: Certificate of Compliance with Circuit Rule 30.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Sample 31: Appendix Table of Contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Sample 32: Brief Cover Sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Sample 33: Special Notice to Counsel Who Will Present Oral Argument.. . . . . 157
Sample 34: Motion to Withdraw After Remand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Sample 35: Certificate of Compliance with Fed. R. App. P. 35(b)(2).. . . . . . . . . . 159
Sample 36: Certiorari Petition Title Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Sample 37: Certiorari Petition “Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States
Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit,” Page 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Sample 38: Motion to Proceed in Forma Pauperis in the Supreme Court. . . . . . . 162
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Sample 39: Rule 11 Checklist.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Sample 40: Motion to Withdraw Filed with an Anders Brief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Sample Letter 1: Record Request.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Sample Letter 2: Designation of Item for Record on Appeal.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Sample Letter 3: Transcript Request. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Sample Letter 4: Letter Requesting PSR.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Sample Letter 5: Citation of Supplemental Authority. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Sample Letter 6: Unavailability for Oral Argument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Sample Letter 7: Closed Case Letter.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Sample Letter 8: Initial Client Letter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Sample Letter 9: Anders Letter.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Sample Letter 10: Grant of Extension of Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Sample Letter 11: Transmitting Opening Brief.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Sample Letter 12: Transmitting Government’s Brief - No Reply.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Sample Letter 13: Transmitting Government Brief - Reply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Sample Letter 14: Order Setting Oral Argument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Sample Letter 15: After Oral Argument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
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Chapter 1:
Initiating the Appeal
1.01: Becoming Counsel on Appeal
Counsel are appointed to appeals in criminal cases in the Seventh Circuit
in a variety of ways.
If you were appointed under the Criminal Justice Act (“CJA”) in the
district court to represent your client, your representation continues
automatically in the Court of Appeals. You will be obligated to continue to
represent your client, unless relieved by the Court of Appeals. There is no need
to seek in forma pauperis status in the Court of Appeals, as your client’s indigent
status is presumed to continue for purposes of appeal.
Like appointed counsel, retained counsel in the district court are expected
to continue to represent their clients on appeal. If your client has become
indigent by the time the appeal is filed, you will need to seek in forma pauperis
status in order to be appointed to represent your client under the CJA. See
Section 1.02. If you do not intend to continue your representation of your client
on appeal, you must file a motion to withdraw. See Sample 16. If you state in the
motion to withdraw that your client no longer has funds to retain counsel, the
Court of Appeals will likely order you to assist your client obtain in forma pauperis
status. The Court of Appeals will not typically relieve you of representation until
after the district court has granted in forma pauperis status.
Where you were appointed as “stand-by” counsel in the district court for a
defendant who was allowed to proceed pro se, you do not have an obligation to
continue to represent the defendant on appeal. Nevertheless, the Court of
Appeals will presume that you represent the defendant on appeal until you file a
“Notice of Non-Involvement” with the Court of Appeals explaining that you
were only “stand-by” counsel in the district court and do not represent the
defendant on appeal. See Sample 1. After such a Notice is filed, the Court of
Appeals will typically relieve you from any further responsibility in the case and
will either appoint counsel for the defendant on appeal or allow him to proceed
pro se.
1.02: Obtaining in Forma Pauperis Status
If you or prior trial counsel were retained in the district court, but your
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client has become indigent by the time the appeal is filed, you must seek in forma
pauperis (“IFP”) status in order to receive compensation under the CJA and allow
your client to proceed without the prepayment of appellate fees and costs,
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) and Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 24.
The motion filed in the district court must state that the defendant is
indigent and set forth the issues you intend to raise on appeal. However, if you
are newly appointed counsel and have not yet had an opportunity to review the
case to determine, what, if any, issues will be raised, a statement to this effect in
the motion will ordinarily suffice in lieu of a statement of the issues to be
presented on appeal. See Sample 2.
Along with the motion, you must file an affidavit executed by your client
demonstrating that he or she cannot pay for an attorney and appellate fees and
costs. The form for this affidavit is set forth in Form 4 of the Appendix to the
Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. Fed. R. App. P. 24(a)(1)(A); see Sample 3;
http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/forms/pauperis.pdf. You will also need to attach
to the affidavit a copy of a report from your client’s prison commissary account,
indicating how much money he has available to him. Your client can obtain this
form from his prison counselor.
While your in forma pauperis motion is pending in the district court, the
Court of Appeals will likely suspend briefing and require you to file a status
report every 30 days until the district court rules on the motion. The status
report need contain only basic case information (such as offense, conviction,
sentence, date of appeal, date of appointment) and any information regarding the
pending motion. If the district court has not yet ruled on the motion, the status
report should include a request to file another status report in 30 days. See
Sample 4.
It is good practice to notify the Court of Appeals immediately after the
district court has ruled on the motion, even if your next status report is not yet
due. Fed. R. App. P. 24(a)(2); see Sample 5. Once the Court of Appeals receives
the district court’s order granting in forma pauperis status, the court will set a
briefing schedule.
IFP motions are granted in the vast majority of cases. However, if the
district court denies the motion, you may file the motion with the Court of
Appeals pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 24(a)(5), using the
same attachments to the motion which you used in the district court. This
motion must be filed within 30 days of the district court’s denial of your motion.
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