Copyright 1995-1999 Touch N' Go Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No claim made to official government works.
(a) Appellate Review of Sentence.
(1) Right to Appeal. A defendant may appeal an unsuspended sentence of imprisonment that exceeds two years for a felony offense or 120 days for a misdemeanor offense on the ground that the sentence is excessive, unless the sentence was imposed in accordance with a plea agreement that provided for imposition of a specific sentence or a sentence equal to or less than a specified maximum sentence. If a sentence is imposed in accordance with a plea agreement that provides for a minimum sentence, a defendant may appeal as excessive only the part of the sentence that exceeds the minimum sentence by more than two years for a felony offense or 120 days for a misdemeanor offense. The prosecuting authority may appeal a sentence of any length on the grounds that the sentence is too lenient. An appeal under this subparagraph must be taken to the court of appeals.
(2) Right to Seek Discretionary Review. A defendant may seek discretionary review of an unsuspended sentence of imprisonment which is not appealable under subparagraph (a)(1) by filing a petition for review in the supreme court under Appellate Rule 402.
(b) Notification of Right to Seek Review of Sentence. At the time of imposition of any sentence of imprisonment, the judge shall inform the defendant
(1) of the defendant's right to appeal or petition for review of the sentence under paragraph (a);
(2) that the appellate court may reduce or increase the sentence, and that by appealing or petitioning for review of the sentence under this rule, the defendant waives the right to plead that by a revision of the sentence resulting from the appeal or review the defendant has been twice placed in jeopardy for the same offense; and
(3) that if the defendant wants counsel and is unable to pay for the services of an attorney, the court will appoint an attorney to represent the defendant in an appeal or petition for review.
(c) Notice of Appeal. A notice of appeal taken only from a sentence shall be filed with the clerk of the appellate courts not later than 30 days after the date shown in the clerk's certificate of distribution on the written judgment, except as provided for in Appellate Rule 204(a)(4). The notice of appeal need only state that the sentence which is being appealed is too lenient or excessive. When filed, the notice of appeal shall be accompanied by the items specified in Appellate Rule 204 (b)[1], [2], [4], and [7].
(d) Termination of Appeal. Any appeal of a sentence initiated by the defendant may be terminated by the defendant filing within 30 days from the filing of the notice of appeal a notice of intent to terminate the appeal. Such a termination shall prevent any increase in the sentence or sentences imposed.
(e) Indigent's Right to Counsel on Sentence Appeal. An indigent defendant is entitled to the assistance of counsel in prosecuting an appeal on the ground that the sentence is excessive. Where an appeal is taken by the prosecution pursuant to AS 12.55.120(b) on the ground that the sentence is too lenient, and the defendant has not appealed, the appellate court in its discretion may appoint counsel for an indigent defendant.
(f) Record on Appeal.
(1) Preparation and Contents. Within 15 days after the filing of a notice of sentence appeal, the clerk of the trial court shall prepare sufficient copies of the record on appeal, which shall consist of the following:
[a] all charging documents;
[b] the judgment being appealed;
[c] a transcript of the entire sentencing proceeding; and
[d] all reports, documents, motions and memoranda pertaining to sentencing which were available to the sentencing court.
The clerk shall number the pages of the record consecutively. Appellate Rule 210(c) shall not apply.
(2) Distribution. Immediately upon preparation of the record on appeal, the clerk shall send the original to the clerk of the appellate courts, and copies to the defendant, the defendant's counsel, and the attorney for the prosecution.
(g) Memoranda on Appeal.
(1) By Appellant. Within 15 days after service of copies of the record on appeal provided for in (g) of this rule, the appellant shall file with the appellate court the original and three copies of a typewritten memorandum in support of the appeal.
(2) By Appellee. Within 15 days after service of a copy of appellant's memorandum, the appellee may file with the appellate court the original and three copies of a typewritten memorandum in opposition to the appeal.
(3) Reply Memorandum. No reply memorandum shall be filed unless ordered by the court.
(4) Form and Contents of Memoranda. The memoranda filed by either the appellant or the appellee need not comply with the requirements of Appellate Rule 212 unless ordered by the appellate court.
(5) Service of Memoranda. When filed, the original memoranda shall be accompanied by proof of service on opposing counsel.
(h) Disposition of Appeals by Reviewing Court. Sentence appeals will be disposed of by the appellate court on the record. Oral argument, if timely requested no later than ten days after the date on which the appellee's sentence memorandum is due, is limited to fifteen minutes per side, unless otherwise ordered by the court of appeals. The order of argument is as provided in Rule 213(b). In cases where sentence appeals are consolidated with appeals on the merits, a timely request for argument on the merits in accordance with Rule 213(a) or Rule 217(h) is deemed to include a request for argument on the sentence appeal.
(i) Bail Pending Appeal. A sentence appealed on the sole ground that the sentence is excessive does not confer or enlarge the right to bail pending appeal.
(j) Consolidation of Sentence Appeals with Regular Appeals. A party shall combine an appeal of a sentence on the ground that the sentence is excessive or too lenient, or a petition for review on those grounds, with an appeal based on other grounds. In a combined appeal, the procedure for perfecting an appeal on other grounds shall govern. All combined appeals must be taken initially to the court of appeals.
(k) Referral of Issues Outside Jurisdiction of Court of Appeals. In a combined appeal, upon final adjudication of all issues within the jurisdiction of the court of appeals, the court of appeals shall refer the case to the supreme court for discretionary review of any remaining sentence issues which are reviewable by the supreme court under subparagraph (a)(2) of this rule.
(SCO 439 effective November 15, 1980; amended by SCO 515 effective October 1, 1982; by SCO 554 effective April 4, 1983; by SCO 575 effective February 1, 1984; by SCO 781 effective March 15, 1987; by SCO 827 effective August 1, 1987; by SCO 829 effective August 1, 1987; by SCO 862 effective July 15, 1988; by SCO 940 effective January 15, 1989; by SCO 1021 effective July 15, 1990; by SCO 1153 effective July 15, 1994; and by SCO 1155 effective July 15, 1994; by SCO 1226 effective January 22, 1996; and by SCO 1316 effective July 15, 1998)
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Copyright 1995-1999 by Touch N' Go Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. No copyright claim is made to the text of the rules.
Last Modified 7/14/1999
