Statutes, codes, and regulations
Oklahoma Statutes
Title 22 - CRIMINAL PROCEDUREChapter 18Appendix - RULES OF THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
Section III
Rule 3.5 - Briefs; Contents; Citation of Authorities

Okla. Stat. tit. 22 § 3.5

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Current through Laws 2024, c. 453.
Rule 3.5 - Briefs; Contents; Citation of Authorities
A. Brief of the Appellant. The brief of the appellant shall be in substantial compliance with the form and organization as follows:
(1) A cover page containing the style of the case, the case number(s) in this Court and the trial court, together with the name(s), address(es) and telephone number(s) of the attorney(s) submitting the brief and the attorney(s) OBA number(s);
(2) A table of contents, with page references, and an alphabetical table of cases, statutes and other authorities cited, with references to the pages in the brief where they are cited;
(3) A statement of the case, indicating briefly its nature, the course of proceedings, and its disposition in the trial court;
(4) A statement of the facts relevant to the issues presented for review, with appropriate references to the record, referring to the original record as "(O.R. ___)" and to pages in the transcript of evidence as "(Tr. ___)";
(5) An argument, containing the contentions of the appellant, which sets forth all assignments of error, supported by citations to the authorities, statutes and parts of the record. Each proposition of error shall be set out separately in the brief. Merely mentioning a possible issue in an argument or citation to authority does not constitute the raising of a proposition of error on appeal. Failure to list an issue pursuant to these requirements constitutes waiver of alleged error.SeeArmstrong v. State, 1991 OK CR 34, 811 P.2d 593 , 599;
(6) A short conclusion stating the specific relief sought;
(7) A business address and telephone number following the signature of the attorney of record or party together with the attorney's Oklahoma Bar number; and,
(8) A certificate of service on the adverse party, as provided in Rule 1.9 (B).
(9) A pro-se handwritten brief must be printed, double-spaced and written with a pen, not pencil. Writing on the back of pages is NOT allowed.
B. Brief of Appellee. The brief of the appellee shall conform to the requirements of subdivision (A).
C. Argument and Citation of Authorities.
(1) Both parties shall also include a concise statement of the applicable standard of review in the discussion of each issue presented or in a separate heading placed before the discussion of the issue. The parties shall also provide a reference to the pages of the record filed and the authorities relied upon in support of each point raised.
(2) Citation to opinions of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals shall include citations to Pacific, Pacific 2nd, and Pacific 3rd Reporters. Citation to the Court's official paragraph citation form is allowed as a parallel cite, but not required. Effective January 1, 1998, citation to opinions of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals shall be as follows:
(a) Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Opinions in which mandate has issued prior to January 1, 1954, shall include citations to Pacific and Pacific 2nd Reporters. Parallel citation to Oklahoma Criminal Reports is strongly encouraged. Examples of permissible citation form include:
(i) Hunter v. State , 97 Okl.Cr. 402, 264 P.2d 997 (1953).
(ii)Hunter v. State, 97 Okl.Cr. 402, 264 P.2d 997 , 998 (1953).
(iii)Hunter v. State, 97 Okl.Cr. 402, 403, 264 P.2d 997 , 998 (1953).
(iv) Hunter v. State , 264 P.2d 997 (Okl.Cr.1953).
(v) Hunter v. State , 264 P.2d 997 , 998 (Okl.Cr.1953).
(b) Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Opinions in which mandate has issued after January 1, 1954, shall include citations to Pacific, Pacific 2nd, and Pacific 3rd Reporters. Parallel citation to the official paragraph citation form of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals is strongly encouraged. Examples of permissible citation form include:
(i) Burns v. State , 1955 OK CR 46, 282 P.2d 258 .
(ii) Burns v. State , 1955 OK CR 46, 282 P.2d 258 , 259.
(iii) Burns v. State , 1955 OK CR 46, ¶9, 282 P.2d 258 , 259.
(iv) Burns v. State , 282 P.2d 258 (Okl.Cr.1955).
(v) Burns v. State , 282 P.2d 258 , 259 (Okl.Cr.1955).

In "Burns v. State, 1955 OK CR 46, ¶9, 282 P.2d 258 ", "1955" refers to the year the mandate issued, "OK CR" is the court designation for the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, "46" is the number of that 1955 opinion assigned by the Court, "¶9" is paragraph number 9 of the opinion as designated by the Court, and "282 P.2d 258" is the parallel citation to the Pacific 2nd reporter.

(c) An opinion cited subsequent to issuance of the mandate but prior to official publication shall include citation to the Oklahoma Bar Journal. Parallel citation to the official paragraph citation form of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals is strongly encouraged. Examples of permissible citation form include:
(i) Robinson v. State , 1997 OK CR 24 , 68 OBJ 1379 (1997).
(ii) Robinson v. State , 1997 OK CR 24 , 68 OBJ 1379, 1381(1997).
(iii) Robinson v. State , 1997 OK CR 24 , ¶3, 68 OBJ 1379, 1381 (1997).
(iv) Robinson v. State , 68 OBJ 1379 (Okl.Cr.1997).
(v) Robinson v. State , 68 OBJ 1379, 1381 (Okl.Cr.1997).
(d) Opinions of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals issued for publication shall be published on the Court's World Wide Web site, www.occa.state.ok.us. Such opinions may not be cited as authority in a subsequent appellate opinion nor used as authority by a trial court until the mandate in the matter has issued. After the mandate has issued, the opinion as published on the Web site shall constitute the official paragraph citation form of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. See Rule 1.0 (D) for citation to Rules.
(3) In all instances, an unpublished decision is not binding on this Court. However, parties may cite and bring to the Court's attention the unpublished decisions of this Court provided counsel states that no published case would serve as well the purpose for which counsel cites it, and provided further that counsel shall provide opposing counsel and the Court with a copy of the unpublished decision.
(4) Citation to opinions of the United States Supreme Court shall include each of the following: U.S., S.Ct., L.Ed. (year).
(5) Citation to Oklahoma Uniform Jury Instructions - Criminal (Second) shall be as follows: Instruction No. ____, OUJI-CR(2d); and citation to revised instructions shall be noted with the addition of (Supp. _____) (Year).
(6) Failure to present relevant authority in compliance with these requirements will result in the issue being forfeited on appeal. SeeStafford v. State, 800 P.2d 738 , 741 (Okl.Cr.1990); Walton v. State, 744 P.2d 977 , 979 (Okl.Cr.1987); S.R.S. v. State, 728 P.2d 515 , 518 (Okl.Cr.1986).
D. Length of Brief. The brief shall not exceed fifty (50) typewritten 8-1/2 x 11-inch pages in length, except as otherwise specified. See Rule 9.3 for page limits on capital cases. Briefs may be either printed or typewritten and must be double spaced. Quotations of fifty (50) words or more in length from any authority cited in a brief must be indented and single spaced. Left and right margins must be one inch. The top margin must be 1-1/4 inch, and the bottom margin must be one inch.
E. Type Size. Briefs and pleadings shall not use more than 12 characters per inch in the body of the document, and 17 characters per inch in footnotes.
F. Paper Size. All pleadings shall be made on 8-1/2 x 11-inch paper.
G. Pagination. All pleadings filed in this Court in excess of two (2) pages shall be paginated.

Okla. Stat. tit. 22, § 3.5

Amended in accordance with 1998 OK CR 48 , eff. 9/3/1998; Amended in accordance with 1999 OK CR 13 , eff. 4/1/1999; Amended in accordance with 2003 OK CR 9, eff. 5/21/2003. Amended by order of the Court of Criminal Appeals, 2008 OK CR 5, eff. 1/31/2008.