About SDAP
SDAP is a law firm that does criminal and juvenile appeals for indigent clients in the San Jose area. We are not the court of appeal

Changes to the Penal Code this Summer
Effective July 1, 2022, AB 200 renumbered Penal Code section 1170.95 to be section 1172.6. It renumbered section 1170.03 (formerly section 1170(d)(1)) to be section 1172.1. Section 1171 became section 1172.7, and section 1171.1 became section 1172.75. AB 200 also amended section 1385.

AB 200

Rate Hike for Appointed Appellate Counsel
The Legislature's budget was signed by the Governor. It retains a proposal to increase the hourly rate for appointed counsel in the Court of Appeal. For appointments starting July 1, 2022, the hourly rate is $110 in assisted cases, $120 in independent cases, and $130 in "top-tier" independent cases.

Covid Claims Continue Through December 31
Panel attorneys can continue to submit additional interim claims through December 31, 2022. One can be compensated for record review time before filing the opening brief if the record is more than 1500 pages or the augmented record has been pending for 90 days.  One can be compensated after the standard interim for work on the respondent's brief and the reply brief.

SDAP Office Partially Staffed During Covid
About half of the SDAP staff is in the office Monday through Thursday, due to the Covid pandemic. The office remains closed to non-SDAP personnel. SDAP staff otherwise continues to work remotely. Feel free to communicate by email. We hope everyone remains safe and healthy.

See the February 2021 panel alert concerning records and other matters.

PANEL ALERT

EMAIL US

Continuing COVID-19 Effects on the Courts
The Sixth District Court of Appeal also continues to operate. Oral argument has been conducted by video. Starting Novermber 2022, in person oral argument is possible. For more information, see the court's website.

The pandemic has caused delays in producing appellate records, especially in cases from Santa Clara County, where much of the staff that handles records has been layed off because of budget cuts. If a panel attorney is experiencing significant record delays, please contact the SDAP buddy.

COURT OF APPEAL

eService Addresses
The email addressess for electronic service is available in the Directory under Practice Tools. For example, the Santa Clara DA Office has an email address for service, and it asks that the deputy DA who handled the matter also be served.     

DIRECTORY

Mandatory Form for Augment Motions
The Sixth District Court of Appeal requires the use of a form proposed order for all motions to augment the record. The pdf fillable proposed order must be used in civil appeals as well. It should be noted that an attorney can request an extension of time to file the opening brief of more than 15 days after the record is filed.

It is also important to note that the Court requests the form be submitted separately in the TrueFiling bundle and not attached to the augment motion. Please contact your SDAP buddy if you have any questions concerning the form.    

MANDATORY FORM

Omission Letters in Santa Clara County.
In addition to the filing of an omission letter in the Santa Clara County Superior Court, counsel must also email a courtesy copy to the superior court appeals unit at appealsclerks@scscourt.org with a sujbect line that reads "COURTESY COPY re [trial court case name & number & title of document]. This is now required by Santa Clara County Superior Court Local Rules, Appellate Rule 3C. The Santa Clara County Superior Court now permits efiling in criminal cases. One must register at an electronic service provider. To facilitate more timely processing of augment motions and omission letters, appellate counsel should specify when efilng in the superior court the appropriate code: "Appeal Augmentation Order" or "Letter of Omission." Counsel should also specify whether it is the first, second, or third such motion or letter in the case. For more on omission letters and motions to augment,please refer to this guide.