Appeal of a Magistrate Judge’s Rulings in Consent Misdemeanor Cases

(A) Appeals from any decision, order, judgment, or sentence entered by a magistrate 39 judge in a misdemeanor criminal case, including petty offenses, as to which the defendant has consented to proceed before a magistrate judge shall be governed by Fed. R. Crim. P. 58. (B) Upon receipt of the notice of appeal, the Clerk shall docket the appeal and assign the case to a district judge. (C) Unless excused by order of the district judge, every appellant shall be responsible for preparation of a typewritten transcript of the proceedings before the magistrate judge from which an appeal has been taken. If such transcript has been prepared from an audio tape recording, the transcript shall be submitted to the magistrate judge for certification of its accuracy.

After certification by the magistrate judge, the transcript shall be forwarded to the Clerk for filing, and the Clerk shall promptly notify the parties of the filing. A copy of the record of such proceedings shall be made available, at the expense of the court, to a person who establishes by affidavit the inability to pay or give security therefor. (D) Within 15 days of the date on which the transcript is filed in the Clerk’s office, or if there is to be no transcript, within 15 days of the filing of the notice of appeal, the appellant shall serve and file a brief which shall enumerate each reversible error claimed to have occurred in the proceedings before the magistrate judge. Within 15 days of service of appellant’s brief, the appellee shall serve and file a brief.

The appellant may serve and file a reply brief within 7 days of service of appellee’s brief. (E) The district judge to whom the appeal is assigned may hear oral argument or may decide the appeal on the briefs. Requests for oral argument shall be made at the time briefs are filed and shall be granted at the discretion of the district judge.