19 Feb You may be able to have plea mistake corrected in appellate court

On behalf of Jack B. Rubin, PA posted in Criminal Appeals on Friday, February 19, 2016.

Whenever we solicit the services of a professional, we assume that our needs will be met in a competent manner. And sometimes, we are at a disadvantage due to our lack of knowledge in the area in which we are seeking assistance.

For instance, if you don’t know much about automobiles, then you have to trust a mechanic’s abilities when having your car worked on at the shop. And you might not find out that your car was fixed incorrectly until it breaks down at some inconvenient moment.

The same sort of situation can occur when being represented by an attorney. If you are facing criminal charges, your attorney should be looking out for your interests and working to help you achieve your best possible outcome. But unfortunately, some attorneys lack the skills to assess a situation correctly, or they simply look for the quickest way to close a case.

For example, an attorney may advise you to plead guilty to criminal charges without fully explaining the full measure of the consequences of entering such a plea. As a result, you later realize that you received a far more severe sentence than you might have if the case were handled differently.

But fortunately, the legal system has a mechanism that allows a defendant to seek a change of a rendered verdict. It is possible to petition to have the case reviewed by a court of appeals. But you will likely have a better chance of having your case heard in an appellate court by having the representation of an experienced attorney.

Attorney Jack B. Rubin understands the workings of the Maryland appellate court system. He may be able to help you by arguing to the court that you were the victim of a substandard legal representation, and for that reason your conviction should be vacated so as to allow for a new trail.