Guide to civil appeals | California Courts (2024)

FAQs

What do appellate courts look at questions of? ›

Appellate courts review the procedures and the decisions in the trial court to make sure that the proceedings were fair and that the proper law was applied correctly.

Winning an appeal is very hard. You must prove that the trial court made a legal mistake that caused you harm. The trial court does not have to prove it was right, but you have to prove there was a mistake. So it is very hard to win an appeal.

Rather, they review the written record to determine if the trial court properly interpreted the law and used the correct procedures when considering the case. To ensure cases are examined from several perspectives, each appeal is considered by a panel of three justices.

It can affirm the judgment of the lower court, in which case the decision of the lower court remains unchanged. It can modify the judgment, so that the decision of the lower court remains but with some change in it. The appellate court can also reverse the judgment of the lower court in part or entirely.

The court of appeals may review the factual findings made by the trial court or agency, but generally may overturn a decision on factual grounds only if the findings were “clearly erroneous.”

The most common reason for an appeal being denied by the Supreme Court or other appellate courts is a lack of merit in the legal arguments presented.

The chances of winning a criminal appeal in California are low (about 20 percent of appeals are successful).

The appeals process is often a drawn-out, sometimes arduous journey in seeking an overturned conviction or a reduced sentence. In California, fewer than 20% of appeals are successfully argued. The odds are increased when there are significant errors of law, such as misconduct by the jury or the prosecution.

The most common grounds for appeal of a criminal conviction are improper admission or exclusion of evidence, insufficient evidence, ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, jury misconduct and/or abuse of discretion by the judge.

What are the 4 possible outcomes of an appellate case? ›

Appellate courts can either affirm, reverse, modify, or remand the trial court's order.

Almost always, if someone appeals a case and it is reversed on appeal, the case is sent back to the same judge after the appeal to do what the appellate court told the judge to do. But in perhaps 1 in 5,000 or 1 in 10,000 appeals, the appellate court orders that the judge be removed from that particular case.

1. TIMESCALES. For written representations appeals, the median number of weeks from an appeal being 'valid' to its Decision in February 2024 was 30 weeks for s78 planning appeals and 18 weeks for householder appeals (Source: Annex B of PINS statistical tables published 28/03/24).

Appeals are complicated and sometimes result in the case going back to the trial court. A specific conviction may be reversed, a sentence altered, or a new trial may be ordered altogether if the Appeals Court decides that particular course of action.

If the issues involve questions of law — like the interpretation of a contract or a statute — the appellate court does not assume the trial court's ruling is correct but looks at the issue from the beginning (de novo), exercising its independent judgment.

The role of the Courts of Appeal is not to give new trials, but to review the Superior Court record (court files and transcripts) to decide if legal errors were made. To do this, the Court of Appeals may hear arguments from each side. Each side gets a chance to make a presentation and to answer the judges' questions.