Short answer. It goes up automatically. Rule 122, Section 10 requires the records be forwarded to the Supreme Court for automatic review within five days after the fifteenth day following promulgation of the judgment, or notice of denial of a new trial or reconsideration motion. The transcript follows within ten days of its filing.
What the law says
In all cases where the death penalty is imposed by the trial court, the records shall be forwarded to the Supreme Court for automatic review and judgment within five days after the fifteenth day following the promulgation of the judgment or notice of denial of a motion for new trial or reconsideration.
Rule 122, Section 10 — Transmission of records in case of death penalty. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The transcript shall also be forwarded within ten days after the filing thereof by the stenographic reporter.
Rule 122, Section 10 — Transmission of records in case of death penalty. Read the full provision →
Automatic review, not an appeal you have to file
Where a trial court imposes the death penalty, Section 10 does not leave the case's elevation to the accused's initiative. The review to the Supreme Court is automatic — the records go up regardless of whether the accused files anything, reflecting how the rule treats the severity of a death sentence. This distinguishes automatic review from an ordinary appeal, which typically requires the appellant to file a notice within the applicable period or lose the right entirely. Because the review does not depend on any action by the accused, it proceeds even if the accused never expresses an intent to contest the sentence at all.
How the deadline is calculated
The timeline is specific: the records must reach the Supreme Court within five days after the fifteenth day following promulgation of the judgment, or following notice of denial of a motion for new trial or reconsideration. In effect, there is a built-in fifteen-day window before the five-day forwarding clock even starts. Counting from promulgation, or from the notice of denial of a new trial or reconsideration motion, gives the trial court time to resolve any post-judgment motions first.
The transcript follows separately
The stenographic transcript of the trial does not necessarily travel with the records at the same moment. Section 10 gives it its own deadline: ten days after the stenographic reporter files it. Both deadlines exist to make sure a death sentence reaches the Supreme Court, complete with the record needed to review it, without unnecessary delay. Splitting the deadlines this way acknowledges that transcription of trial testimony can take longer to finish than simply compiling the case records, so the rule does not let a slow transcript hold up forwarding the records themselves.