07 Jan Details of trial proceedings may help you in the appeals process

On behalf of Jack B. Rubin, PA posted in Criminal Appeals on Thursday, January 7, 2016.

If you received a conviction for a crime that you did not commit, or if you feel that there were serious problems with your trial’s proceedings that led to an unfair verdict, there is still a chance that justice could be properly served. That chance may be found in an appellate court.

During the appeals process, your case will be reviewed by a higher court. Once your case reaches the higher court, you switch from being a defendant to an “appellant.” When reviewing your case, the appellant court can only look at the record of what took place in the lower court proceedings. In addition to this record, the appellate court examines the written briefs filed by both the defense and prosecution.

Although the higher court bases its decisions on information gleaned from the record of the previous legal proceedings, it does not mean that the outcome will be repeated. The appeals process is intended as a means of review to discover if a prior decision was fair and just insofar as the law is concerned.

It is possible that an examination of the briefs will reveal that you were not granted a correct sentence. For example, if the briefs indicate that your defense team mishandled the case, that could be grounds for the conviction being overturned. A conviction could also be overturned if the appellate court finds that the judge in the lower court made an erroneous decision due to misinterpreting or misapplying a legal statute.

It is the records and briefs that hold the key to a successful outcome in an appellate court. For this reason, it is important to have an attorney who is experienced in carefully reviewing these documents. By scrutinizing every detail of your trial’s proceedings, the attorney may be able to find vital details that support your case.