Opinion
DA 23-0019
03-06-2023
STATE OF MONTANA, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. KEITH EUGENE DOYLE, Defendant and Appellant.
ORDER
This Court reviews briefs to ensure compliance with the Montana Rules of Appellate Procedure. After reviewing the Appellant's opening brief filed on March 6, 2023, this Court has determined that the brief does not comply with the Rules and must be resubmitted.
M. R. App. P. 10(2) requires that all briefs in criminal cases appealed by the defendant shall be served on both the County Attorney and the Attorney General. The certificate of service attached to the Appellant's Brief does not indicate that it was served upon the Attorney General.
M. R. App. P. 1 l(4)(e) requires a certificate of compliance indicating the document's line spacing and (1) that the document is proportionally spaced, together with the typeface, point size, and word count; or (2) that the document uses a monospaced typeface, together with the number of characters per inch and word count, or the number of counted pages. The Appellant's brief does not contain a certificate of compliance.
M. R. App. 11 (6)(b) sets forth the information that must be presented on the cover of each brief, which includes cause number, title of the case, tribunal from which the appeal is taken, party names, names and contact information for counsel for each party, if any, and the title of the document. The cover of the Appellant's brief does not include much of the information required by this rule.
The Appellant's brief does not meet the requirements of M. R. App. P. 12(1)(a), which requires a table of contents, with page references, and a table of authorities; M. R. App. P. 12(1)(b), which requires a statement of the issues presented for review; M. R. Civ. P. 12(1)(c), which requires a statement of the case indicating the nature of the case and its procedural disposition in the court below; M. R. App. P. 12(1)(d), which requires a statement of facts relevant to the issues presented for review with references to the pages or parts of the record at which material facts appear; M. R. App. P. 12(1)(e), which requires a statement of the standard of review as to each issue raised, together with a citation of authority; M. R. App. P. 12(1)(f), which requires a summary of the argument which contains a succinct, clear, and accurate statement of the arguments made in the body of the brief; M. R. App. P. 12(1)(g), which requires an argument section containing the contentions of the appellant with respect to the issues presented, and the reasons therefor, with citations to the authorities, statutes, and pages of the record relied on; or M. R. App. P. 12(1)(i), which requires an appendix that includes the relevant judgment, order(s), findings of fact, conclusions of law, jury instruction(s), ruling(s), or decision(s) from which the appeal is taken together with any written memorandum or rationale of the court, and those pages of the transcript containing any oral ruling in support.
Therefore, IT IS ORDERED that the signed original and seven copies of the referenced brief be returned for revisions necessary to comply with the specified Rules;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a signed original and seven copies of the revised brief ordered herein be filed within thirty (30) days of the date of this Order with the Clerk of this Court and that one copy of the revised brief be served on each counsel of record; and
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the times for any subsequent briefing contained in M. R. App. P. 13 shall run from the date of filing of the revised brief.
The Clerk of this Court is directed to mail a true copy of this Order to counsel for Appellee and to mail a true copy of this Order to all counsel upon whom the brief was served.