A RANDOM SAMPLE OF COLLATERAL ATTACKS ON CONVICTION (POSTCONVICTION MOTIONS) WAS DRAWN FROM COURT RECORDS TO ANALYZE THE PROBABILITY OF FILLING UNDER FOUR SEPARATE STATE APPEALS PROCEDURES. THE TEXAS PROCECURE IS THE MOST RESTRICTIVE, THE CALIFORNIA AND COLORADO PROCEDURES ARE THE MOST LIBERAL, AND THE COLORADO PROCEDURE IS THE NEWEST AND WAS PROBABLY BEING TESTED BY PRISONERS AT THE TIME OF SURVEY (1967-1971). ANALYSIS SHOWED THE GREATEST NUMBER OF APPEALS ARE FILED DURING THE FIRST 54 MONTHS OF THE SENTENCE. THE FACTORS MOST AFFECTING NUMBER OF FILINGS ARE LENGTH OF SENTENCE AND TIME IN PRISON. ALMOST NO FILINGS COME FROM PROBATIONERS. IN ILLINOIS 10 PERCENT OF PRISONERS FILE, IN CALIFORNIA 11 PERCENT, IN TEXAS 3 PERCENT, AND IN COLORADO 23 PERCENT. THE NUMBER OF NEW FILERS PER 1000 PRISONERS FOR THE FOUR STATES IS 3.3, 3.7, 1.0, AND 7.7 RESPECTIVELY. THE MYTH THAT MULTIPLE FILERS GENERATE A STRING OF PETITIONS IS AS FALSE AS THE MYTH THAT EVERYONE FILES. MEAN NUMBER OF FILINGS AMONG THOSE WITH MORE THAN ONE VARIED FROM 2.1 IN ILLINOIS TO 4.2 IN TEXAS. IF COURTS ARE TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF POSTCONVICTION MOTIONS, EVERY EFFORT SHOULD BE MADE TO DEVELOP A SYSTEM THAT CONSOLIDATES POTENTIAL MULTIPLE FILINGS INTO ONE, OR, FOLLOWING THE DE FACTO SITUATION IN ILLINOIS, PERMIT NO MORE THAN ONE INITIAL PETITION FOLLOWED BY THE RIGHT TO APPEAL THE DECISION OF THE LOWER COURT TO ONLY ONE HIGHER COURT WITH FINAL JURISDICTION. SHORT OF THIS, THE CALIFORNIA SYSTEM OF LIMITING THE NUMBER OF COURTS IN WHICH A PETITION MAY BE FILED SEEMS FEASIBLE.