GR 9 Cover Sheet

Suggested Amendment to RAP 10.4(a)(1)

Date:               April 20, 2016

Proponent:       Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Purpose:          To permit an appellate brief that is printed on white paper to also contain excepts of the record or exhibits on white paper that depict images accurately that were originally in color.

Sources Relied Upon: WACDL would like to thank Marla Zink of the Washington Appellate Project for information and input for this proposed amendment.

The current RAP 10.4 contains the following prohibition: “The brief shall not contain any tabs, colored pages, or binding and should be stapled in the left-hand corner.” Sometimes, and increasingly, the trial exhibits and the trial court record contain color images or colored text. The purpose of the rule seems to be to prohibit the use of colored sheets of paper, as opposed to prohibiting an accurate representation of an exhibit or record that contains color. Sometimes clerks of the court of appeals reject a submission because the brief contains colored images or text that are accurate reprints from trial.

Amending the rule by changing the words “colored pages” to “colored sheets of paper” would clarify that colored sheets of paper should not be used, while permitting accurate representation of exhibits or portions of the record that contain color images or colored text. This amendment would benefit both the State and the defense and allow more accurate representation of the record from trial.