Arizona

Criminal Procedure

Criminal Procedure

Rule 31.21 – Petition for Review

(a) Purpose. A party may ask the Supreme Court to review a decision of the Court of Appeals by filing a petition for review.
(b) Place and Time for Filing.

(1)Place for Filing. Any petition for review, cross-petition for review, response to a petition for review or cross-petition for review, or motion to extend the time for filing any of these documents, must be filed with the Supreme Court clerk.
(2)Timing.

(A) Petition. A party must file a petition for review no later than 30 days after the Court of Appeals enters its decision, unless a party files a timely motion for reconsideration in the Court of Appeals and, in that event, a party must file a petition for review no later than 15 days after the motion’s final disposition.
(B) Cross-Petition. A party may file a cross-petition for review no later than 15 days after service of a petition for review or no later than 30 days after the Court of Appeals enters its decision, whichever is later.
(c) Stay Pending Motion for Reconsideration.

(1)Generally. A petition for review is automatically stayed if the petition is filed before the Court of Appeals decides a timely filed motion for reconsideration.
(2)Duration of the Stay.

(A) If the Motion Is Denied. If the Court of Appeals denies the motion for reconsideration, the stay remains in effect until the Court of Appeals clerk notifies the parties and the Supreme Court clerk that the Court of Appeals has denied the motion.
(B) If the Motion Is Granted. If the Court of Appeals grants the motion for reconsideration, the stay remains in effect until the Court of Appeals has made a final disposition.
(3)Timing for Response or Cross-Petition. The time for filing a response to a petition for review, or a cross-petition, is computed as if that petition’s filing occurred on the date the stay is lifted, as described in (c)(2).
(4)Mootness. If a petition or cross-petition becomes moot because of the final disposition of a motion for reconsideration by the Court of Appeals, the petitioner or cross-petitioner must promptly file a written notice of mootness with the Supreme Court clerk.
(d) Contents.

(1)Generally. A petition or cross-petition must contain concise statements of the following:

(A) the issues that were decided by the Court of Appeals that the petitioner is presenting for Supreme Court review. The petition must also list, separately and without argument, additional issues presented to, but not decided by, the Court of Appeals that the Supreme Court may need to decide if review is granted.
(B) the facts material to a consideration of the issues presented to the Supreme Court for review, with appropriate references to the record on appeal. No evidentiary matter should be included if it is not material to proper consideration of the issues. If an evidentiary matter is material, the party must include a reference to the record where that evidence appears, as provided in Rule 31.10(d).
(C) the reasons the petition should be granted, which may include, among others, that no Arizona decision controls the point of law in question, that a decision of the Supreme Court should be overruled or qualified, that there are conflicting decisions by the Court of Appeals, or that important issues of law have been incorrectly decided.
(2)Attachments. A copy of the Court of Appeals’ decision must accompany the petition. If the Court of Appeals’ decision is an order declining to accept jurisdiction of a special action, a copy of the superior court’s decision that was the subject of the special action also must accompany the petition.
(e) Appendix.

(1)Necessity. If there are documents in the record on appeal that are necessary for determination of the issues raised by the petition or cross-petition, and hyperlinking to the record is unavailable, the petitioner and cross-petitioner must file with the petition or cross-petition an appendix that contains only those documents.
(2)Form. An appendix must comply with the requirements of Rule 31.11.
(f) Response and Reply.

(1)Timing and Necessity. A party may respond to a petition or cross-petition by filing a response with the Supreme Court clerk no later than 30 days after service of the petition or cross-petition. A party’s failure to file a response to a petition or cross-petition will not be treated as an admission that the Supreme Court should grant the petition or cross-petition.
(2)Additional Issues. A response must list, separately and without argument, any additional issues not listed by the petitioner that the parties presented to the Court of Appeals but were not decided and that the Supreme Court may need to decide if it grants review.
(3)Appendix. The response may include an appendix as provided in (e), but the appendix to the response may only include documents that were not within the appendix to the petition or cross-petition.
(4)Reply. The petitioner or cross-petitioner may not file a reply unless the Supreme Court enters an order specifically authorizing it, and then the petitioner or cross-petitioner must file the reply within the time set by that order.
(g) Form and Length of Petition, Cross-Petition, and Responses.

(1)Form. The caption of the petition must designate the parties as designated in the caption of filings in the Court of Appeals. The formatting requirements of Rule 31.6(b) apply to a petition, a cross-petition, and a response to a petition or cross-petition.
(2)Length. A petition, a cross-petition, or a response to a petition or cross-petition must not exceed 3,500 words. A cross-petition combined with a response to a petition may not exceed 6,500 words.
(3)Certificate of Compliance. A petition, a cross-petition, or a response to a petition or cross-petition must include a certificate of compliance as shown in Form 30. A party preparing this certificate may rely on the word count of the processing system used to prepare the petition, cross-petition, or response.
(h) Service. A party filing a petition, a cross-petition, a response, a reply, or an appendix must serve a copy of the document in the manner provided in Rule 31.13(d) on all parties who were entitled to service in the Court of Appeals. The party also must file and serve a certificate of service in the manner provided in Rule 31.13(d)(2).
(i) Order Denying Review. The Supreme Court clerk must promptly notify the parties and the Court of Appeals clerk if the Supreme Court has denied a petition or cross-petition for review. An order of the Supreme Court denying review must identify those Supreme Court justices, if any, who voted to grant review.
(j) Order Granting Review.

(1)Notice. The Supreme Court clerk must promptly notify the parties and the Court of Appeals clerk if the Supreme Court grants a petition or cross-petition for review.
(2)Issues. A Supreme Court order granting review must specify the issue or issues the Supreme Court will review, and whether it will consider issues raised in, but not decided by, the Court of Appeals.
(3)Supplemental Briefs and Oral Argument. The Supreme Court may permit the parties to file supplemental briefs, or it may set oral argument, or both. Unless otherwise ordered, oral argument may not be scheduled less than 30 days after entry of a written notice of oral argument or, if supplemental briefs are permitted, less than 30 days after the deadline for filing supplemental briefs.
(4)Motion for Supplementation or Oral Argument. If an order granting review does not provide for supplemental briefs or oral argument, any party may file a motion specifying the reasons that supplementation or oral argument, or both, would be appropriate. A party must file this motion no later than 15 days after the Supreme Court clerk sends notice to the parties of the order granting review.
(k) Availability of the Remaining Record. The Court of Appeals clerk must make the remaining record available to the Supreme Court clerk upon notification that the Supreme Court has granted a petition or cross-petition for review.
(l) Disposition. If the Supreme Court grants review, it may decide the appeal in any manner specified in Rule 31.19(c) or (d). Additionally, the Supreme Court may do the following:

(1) remand the appeal to the Court of Appeals for reconsideration in light of specified authority;
(2) if issues were raised in, and not decided by, the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court may consider and decide those issues, remand the appeal to the Court of Appeals to decide them, or dispose of those issues as deemed appropriate; or
(3) if the parties by agreement resolve the appeal after a petition for review is filed, the Supreme Court may vacate the disposition of the Court of Appeals or order depublication of an opinion of the Court of Appeals.

Ariz. R. Crim. P. 31.21

Added by August 31, 2017, effective January 1, 2018.

HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES

Former Rule 31.21, relating to manner of filing and service, and copies, was abrogated effective January 1, 2018. See, now, AZ ST RCRP Rule 31.19.