SB999: Appeals; procedure on appeal, payment of expenses.

Legislative Summary

Appeals; security for appeal and fees; procedure on appeal. Changes the amount of the suspending bond required during the pendency of all appeals of any judgment granting legal, equitable, or any other form of relief from one year's interest calculated from the date of the notice of appeal to the value of the judgment plus two and one-half years' interest calculated from the date of the notice of appeal. The bill also provides an appellate court with discretion in assessing attorney fees, costs, and necessary expenses against an indigent defendant when the conviction of the defendant is upheld on appeal. Under current law, the appellate court must assess such fees, costs, and expenses against an indigent defendant when the conviction of the defendant is upheld on appeal. Finally, the bill also provides that a panel of the Court of Appeals may dispense with oral argument if such panel unanimously decides that such oral argument is unnecessary because the facts and legal arguments are adequately presented in the briefs and the record such that the decisional process would not be significantly aided by oral argument and provides that this provision shall expire on June 30, 2027, unless reenacted by the 2027 Session of the General Assembly.