Arizona Court of Appeals

The Arizona Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the state of Arizona. It is divided into two divisions, with a total of twenty-two judges on the court: sixteen in Division One, based in Phoenix, and six in Division Two, based in Tucson.

Jurisdiction

The Court of Appeals has jurisdiction to consider appeals in civil cases from the Arizona Superior Court. The court also reviews juvenile and domestic relations matters from the superior court, workers’ compensation and unemployment benefits decisions, tax court decisions, and certain corporation commission decisions.

The court also has jurisdiction over appeals in criminal matters from superior court, except for cases in which a death sentence has been imposed. Death penalty cases go directly to the Supreme Court of Arizona.

The court may also decide "petitions for special action," which is Arizona's term for petitions for special writs, such as certiorari, mandamus and prohibition.

Procedures

Selection of judges

Judges are selected by a modified form of the Missouri Plan. A bipartisan commission considers applicants and sends a list of nominees to the governor. The governor is required by law to appoint from this list based on merit, without regard to party affiliation. Judges are then retained for an initial period, after which they are subject to a retention election. If the judge wins the election, his/her term is six years.

Deciding cases

The Court of Appeals decides cases in panels of three judges, called "departments." Each department chooses a presiding judge from among the three. Division One also has a Chief Judge and Vice Chief Judge, elected by all judges in the division.

The process for pro se criminal defendants begins with the dismissal of a Petition for Post Conviction Relief by the superior court. A review of the superior court's decision by the court of appeals begins with a Petition for Review.

Divisions

While the Court of Appeals is divided into two geographic divisions in Phoenix and Tucson, the superior courts are bound by all of the Court of Appeals decisions, regardless of the division they are issued in. An Arizona trial court is not required to give greater precedent to a Court of Appeals decision from the division it is located in then a decision from the other division.[1]

  • Division 1 consists of Maricopa, Yuma, La Paz, Mohave, Coconino, Yavapai, Navajo and Apache counties.
  • Division 2 consists of Pima, Pinal, Cochise, Santa Cruz, Greenlee, Graham and Gila counties.[2]

At least ten judges of Division One must be residents of Maricopa county and five residents of the remaining counties. One may be from any county. At least four judges of Division Two must be residents of Pima county and two residents of the remaining counties.[3]

Division One has statewide responsibility for appeals from the Industrial Commission and unemployment compensation rulings of the Department of Economic Security.[4] One department of Division One is responsible for appeals from the Tax Court.[5]

Court members

The members of Arizona Court of Appeals Division 1, by order of seniority,[6] include:

Name Appointment Law school Appointed by County Source
Lawrence Winthrop[lower-alpha 1] Oct. 15, 2002 California Western School of Law Jane Dee Hull Maricopa LFW
Michael J. Brown[lower-alpha 1] Jan. 2, 2007 Arizona State University College of Law Janet Napolitano Navajo MJB
Peter Swann[lower-alpha 2] Nov. 5, 2008 University of Maryland School of Law Janet Napolitano Maricopa PBS
Randall M. Howe April 11, 2012 Arizona State University College of Law Jan Brewer Maricopa RMH
Samuel A. Thumma[lower-alpha 1] April 11, 2012 University of Iowa College of Law Jan Brewer Maricopa SAT
Kent E. Cattani Feb. 9, 2013 University of California at Berkeley Jan Brewer Maricopa KEC
Kenton D. Jones Oct. 28, 2013 Arizona State University College of Law Jan Brewer Yavapai KDJ
Paul J. McMurdie Nov. 14, 2016 Arizona State University College of Law Doug Ducey Maricopa PJM
Maria E. Cruz April 12, 2017 University of Arizona College of Law Doug Ducey Yuma MEC
Jennifer B. Campbell April 27, 2017 University of Texas School of Law Doug Ducey Yavapai JBC
Jennifer Perkins Oct. 30, 2017 SMU Dedman School of Law Doug Ducey Maricopa JMP
James B. Morse Jr. Nov. 6, 2017 University of Virginia School of Law Doug Ducey Maricopa JBM
David D. Weinzweig Dec. 29, 2017 Arizona State University College of Law Doug Ducey Maricopa DDW
David B. Gass Sept. 13, 2019 Arizona State University College of Law Doug Ducey Maricopa DG
D. Steven Williams Nov. 1, 2019 Arizona State University College of Law Doug Ducey Navajo DSW
Cynthia Bailey April 24, 2020 Arizona State University College of Law Doug Ducey Maricopa

The members of Arizona Court of Appeals, Division 2 include:

Name Appointment Law school Appointed by County Source
Philip Espinosa[lower-alpha 1] 1992 University of Arizona College of Law Fife Symington Pima PGE
Peter Eckerstrom[lower-alpha 1] 2003 Stanford Law School Janet Napolitano Pima PJE
Garye L. Vasquez[lower-alpha 2] 2005 University of Arizona College of Law Janet Napolitano Pinal GVL
Christopher P. Staring 2015 Tulane University Law School Doug Ducey Pima CPS
Karl Eppich 2017 Stanford Law School Doug Ducey Pinal KCE
Sean Brearcliffe Sept. 20, 2017 Golden Gate University Doug Ducey Pima SEB

Former judges

See also

Notes
  1. Former Chief Judge
  2. Current Chief Judge

References
  1. State v. Patterson, 218 P.3d 1031, 1037 (Ariz. App. 2009)
  2. A.R.S. § 12-120
  3. A.R.S. § 12-120.02
  4. https://www.azcourts.gov/AZ-Courts/Court-of-Appeals
  5. A.R.S. § 12-170
  6. https://www.azcourts.gov/Portals/89/Annual%20Report/2018%20ANNUAL%20REPORT%20(FINALR).pdf?ver=2019-03-02-124513-920
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