A South Carolina criminal appeal takes roughly 3 to 5 years from filing a Notice of Intent to Appeal through the Court of Appeals decision. The transcript arrives in 60 to 90 days, the defense files a brief within 1 to 2 months, the Attorney General responds in 5 to 6 months, and the Court of Appeals takes 18 to 24 months to issue an opinion. If denied, certiorari to the Supreme Court adds another 18 to 24 months.
Chapters
Hey, oftentimes clients contact us and they want to know, like, how long is it going to take for the courts to hear their appeal? So I figured it might be a good idea just to kind of give you an idea of the steps that are involved. When somebody is initially convicted of a crime, the first thing they'll do is file a Notice of Intent to Appeal. Once that happens, then a transcript needs to be ordered. If you're represented by the Office of Appellate Defense, then they will go ahead and order the transcript. If you have a retained attorney, then your attorney will be responsible for ordering that transcript. Typically, it takes about 60 to 90 days for the court reporters to produce the transcript. That's pretty standard. At that point, your attorney will review the record and will start to— to identify claims and issues in your case. They will then file what's called an initial brief, typically within 1 to 2 months after they receive the transcript. At that point, the Attorney General's Office then has an opportunity to respond. They take a lot longer. They will typically take maybe 5 to 6 months in order to file a response. Once that response is filed, your attorney will take a look at it and make a decision whether or not to file a reply brief. Counsel will have about 10 days to file that reply brief. Once that's done, then the attorneys will put together the record on appeal. And so, the record on appeal is going to contain everything that's kind of necessary to the disposition of your appeal. It's going to include your trial transcript, pre-trial motions, probably a copy of the indictments and the sentencing sheets, any exhibits that are the basis of one of your claims in your appeal. Once that's done, then it will be before the South Carolina Court of Appeals, and they will have an opportunity to start reviewing the record and reviewing your claims. If they want to hear an oral argument, you will get notification. If they do not, then at some point they will issue an opinion in your case. Now, that whole process typically takes about 18 to 24 months, and that's pretty standard. Sometimes the more claims that you raise, the more difficult the claims, it can take a little bit longer. Sometimes it can take less time. If you lose your case in the Court of Appeals, then you have a decision to make. You can either go into what's called post-conviction relief, or you can seek certiorari with the South Carolina Supreme Court. You'll want to talk to your lawyer about what to do, and there are a number of factors that kind of factor into that particular decision. So that's, you know, and if you decide to go to the South Carolina Supreme Court, that can be a whole nother series of briefings, which can probably take maybe another 18 to 24 months. So if you have any questions about this, please feel free to give somebody, or to give our office a call, and somebody who's here will be more than happy to talk to you about it. Our telephone number is 445-1333. Thank you.
