Home FAQ's Links Contact Search
 

APPELLATE

Tim Curry
Criminal District Attorney
     
  How Justice Works
     
  Victim Help
     
  Hot Checks
     
  White Collar Crime
     
  Special Units
     
  Other Office Units
    Intake
    Felony
    Misdemeanor
    Grand Jury
    Juvenile
    Appellate
    Investigation
    Civil
    Hospital-JPS
    Mental Health
    Business Office

 

 

 

An appeal generally occurs after a conviction when the defendant requests an appellate court to determine whether errors occurred at trial that require a new trial or an acquittal. The Appellate Division of the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office represents the State of Texas in all appeals from misdemeanor and felony convictions in Tarrant County. The Division consists of sixteen attorneys and five support staff.
Criminal appeals in Texas are heard by the fourteen lower courts of appeals and/or the Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest court in Texas for criminal cases. The defendant alleges that errors occurred at his trial by filing a written brief with the appropriate appellate court.
 
After the defendant’s brief is filed, the case is assigned to one of the Appellate Division’s attorneys. In preparing a written brief for the State, the appellate attorney reviews the entire record of the trial to ensure complete familiarity with what occurred in the trial court. When necessary, the attorney consults with the prosecutor who tried the case to gain his or her unique insight into what actually occurred during trial. The attorney then undertakes whatever legal research is necessary to counter the points raised in the defendant’s brief. This research can be extensive, often requiring several days for just one case. The appellate attorney then reduces his knowledge of the record and the law to a concise and persuasive written State’s brief to file in the appellate court.
After the briefs are filed, the appellate court dockets the case. In many cases the appellate court hears oral argument before reaching its final decision. When oral argument is heard, the appellate attorney who drafted the State’s brief appears before the court to orally present the State’s position. During this appearance, the attorney is open to questioning by any or all of the judges on the court. Frequently, these questions from the bench reveal particular areas of concern for an individual judge and allow an able appellate attorney to address those concerns more fully.
 
After the appellate court renders its written opinion, either party may request a rehearing if it believes that the court erred in its ruling. In most cases, the losing party can seek discretionary review of the opinion by the Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin. Cases wherein a sentence of death has been assessed are automatically appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeals. In certain circumstances, decisions of the Court of Criminal Appeals can be reviewed by the United States Supreme Court.
As the crime rate and the number of criminal courts have grown in Tarrant County, so has the workload of the Appellate Division. In 2000, the attorneys from the Appellate Division filed approximately 400 briefs with Texas courts and appeared approximately 60 times before various courts for oral arguments. The Appellate Division constantly struggles to maintain its high degree of legal scholarship under this ever-increasing caseload.
 
In addition to direct appeals, the Appellate Division handles all post-conviction writs of habeas corpus concerning Tarrant County cases. Writs of habeas corpus address constitutional errors that render a conviction void or issues that could not be raised on direct appeal. In 2000, applicants filed 625 post-conviction writs of habeas corpus, requiring the Appellate Division to answer 188 writs. Many of these writs required evidentiary hearings in the convicting trial court so that findings of fact and conclusions of law could be filed with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
 
The Appellate Division has distinguished itself as one of the most respected and successful appellate prosecution units in Texas. Between 1990 and 2000, our attorneys argued cases before the Fort Worth, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Eastland, Texarkana, and Waco courts of appeals. The Division was involved in approximately 137 published cases in the Court of Criminal Appeals and two published cases from the Texas Supreme Court.
 
In State v. Roland, the Appellate Division convinced a unanimous Texas Supreme Court to reverse a lower court of appeals’ decision ordering the immediate release from a mental hospital of a violent defendant found not guilty by reason of insanity. The court agreed that, while annual recommitment hearings are statutorily required, the remedy for a trial court’s failure to timely conduct such a hearing is not automatic release.
The Appellate Division persuaded the Court of Criminal Appeals in Soria v. State and Lagrone v. State to abandon an aberration in Texas law that allowed defendants to present psychiatric testimony in the punishment phase of capital murder trial without allowing the State any effective means of responding.
 
Two of the most significant cases regarding the admission of evidence in the punishment stage of a non-capital trial are Beasley v. State and Anderson v. State. There, Tarrant County led the way in expanding the types of evidence that a jury can hear in the punishment phase of trial to include evidence about a defendant’s gang membership. Hearing such information aides the jury in making the punishment fit the criminal.
In Dixon v. State, a case recently decided by the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Appellate Division played an important role in harmonizing the rules of evidence relating to witness credibility. Now, there is no dispute that the State has as much right as a criminal defendant to attempt to show that a witness has a bias which might color his testimony.
 
The Appellate Division provides other invaluable services both inside the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office and to the larger law enforcement community. Trial prosecutors in the office frequently consult with the Appellate Division on legal issues that arise during trial. The availability and quality of this advice often means the difference between victory and defeat. Additionally, the Appellate Division advises the Texas Legislature on proposed criminal law legislation. Many Appellate Division attorneys have spoken at legal seminars across the state and informally advise prosecutors in other offices.
 

TARRANT COUNTY CRIMINAL DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
Appellate Division Affirmation Percentages in Courts of Appeals

  96% 97% 95% 96%