July 24 2012 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA No. AF 07-0016 F' IN THE MATTER OF THE RULES OF ) .111/ 2 ) ORDER 2Oip APPELLATE PROCEDURE ) ç CLERI( OF rFi The Court seeks to address apparent confusion on the part of some retained criminal defense counsel as to their continuing responsibility for appellate representation of the defendant. For that purpose, on February 28, 2012, we began accepting public comments to proposed amendments to M. R. App. P. 4(5)(b). No comments were filed. IT IS NOW ORDERED that M. R. App. P. 4(5)(b) is amended as follows. Because the amendments clarify, and do not alter, counsel's responsibilities, they shall take effect immediately. Language added to the rule is highlighted and language deleted is stricken. (b) Appeals in criminal cases. (i) In criminal cases, ai\n appeal from a judgment entered pursuant to section 46-18-116 must be taken within 60 days after entry of the judgment from which appeal is taken. A notice of appeal filed after the oral pronouncement of a decision or sentence but before entry of the written judgment or sentence is treated as filed on the date of such the written entry. The district court is not deprived of jurisdiction to enter the written judgment or order by the premature filing of a notice of appeal. (ii) After filing a notice of appeal, retained criminal defense counsel will remain as counsel of record on appeal until and unless counsel either obtains and files with the clerk of the supreme court the client's written consent to counsel's withdrawal, or obtains a supreme court order allowing counsel to withdraw. (iii) In criminal cases, aAn appeal from a judgment or order made appealable by section 46-20-103 must be taken within 20 days of the entry of the written judgment or order from which appeal is taken. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Order shall be published on the Montana Supreme Court website and that notice of this Order shall be posted on the website of the State Bar of Montana and in the next available issue of the Montana Lawyer. The Clerk is directed to provide copies of this Order to the Montana State Law Library, the State Bar of Montana, Thomson Reuters, and to both Todd Everts and Kevin Hayes of the Montana Legislative Services Division. The Clerk is further directed to provide copies of this Order to the Appellate Defenders Office and to the Honorable Deborah Kim Christopher of the Advisory Commission on Rules of Civil and Appellate Procedure. DATED this day of July, 2012. Chief Justice 2