Austin Criminal Defense Blog

What is the definition of an appeal?

An appeal is a request to a higher court by the losing party in a legal action to overturn a lower court’s ruling. The basis of an appeal has to be a reversible mistake in the application of what the law states at the trial court level (i.e., using the facts, the court clearly misapplied the law).

In defense cases, an appeal may focus on the conviction on its own or simply the sentencing portion of the decision without regard to the actual fundamental conviction. For instance, any time a defendant is properly convicted of manslaughter but a judge sentences the defendant to a prison term that may be beyond the limit of the law, the defendant will only appeal the prison term while leaving the actual conviction itself intact.

An appeal shall be filed only after a final judgment or order has been reached by the trial court. All of this is quite simply for reasons of efficiency, so that the court system is not bogged down by delays and trials are not continually put on hold while waiting for appeals of a judge’s every verdict.

At the culmination of a trial, the losing party may also construct direct appeals (e.g., motion for a new trial, motion for directed verdict) to the presiding judge to immediately overrule the jury’s decision, but these are hardly ever successful.

Does an appeal constitute a new trial?

No. In a appeal there are no new issues presented or witnesses designated to testify. The appellate court is only going to look at the trial’s transcript and evidence shown through the trial to figure out whether there were mistakes in either procedure or application of the law. Even when there were errors, if they are deemed modest – legally called “harmless error” – the judgment will not be overturned or a new trial granted.

Can any type of judgment be appealed?

The short response is no, there is absolutely no absolute right to an appeal. Every state has laws which outline the types of cases that appellate courts may evaluate. There must be an error of law for an appellate court to evaluate a case. That the losing party did not like the decision is not really enough to sustain an appeal.

That being said, even in administrative courts or lower level courts, if anyone’s constitutional legal rights have been infringed upon, they can file a suit in order to enforce his or her protection under the law and/or to revisit the original case.

What is the definition of the appeals process?

In Texas court proceedings, the appellant or petitioner (the party appealing the verdict) must file a notice of appeal within 30 days of the decision. In federal court, the deadline is 60 days. The filing of the notice of appeal starts the clock running on the appeals process and then there are prescribed deadlines from this point on. The petitioner submits a legal brief detailing the alleged mistakes of law made by the trial court, and the respondent or appellee (the party that prevailed at the trial) writes a reply.

Once the appellate court acquires both petitioner and respondent briefs, it will consider the arguments and make a determination of whether: a) there were errors of law made by the trial court, and consequently b) whether the mistakes rise to the level of “reversible error” (very serious errors). As described above, benign errors are going to be disregarded by the appellate court.

There might not be oral arguments given by petitioner and respondent. If the court makes the decision to hear oral arguments, the petitioner will present her or his arguments and additionally field inquiries from the judge(s) and after that the respondent will do the same. In many appeals, this question and answer format may last ten to fifteen minutes for each side.

Whether the appeals court hears oral arguments or issues a verdict established exclusively on the written briefs, the court will either: 1) affirm the decision; 2) order a new trial; 3) modify the ruling in some way; 4) consider new facts or evidence (seldomly); or 5) in particularly infrequent cases, could possibly dismiss the case entirely.

What is the likelihood of a winning appeal?

The number of winning appeals is minimal. Appellate courts offer the trial court great leeway in carrying out trials. The law is unable to promise ideal trials, accordingly appeals courts will only overturn decisions that have evident, really serious errors of law.

Because of the freedom appeals courts give trial decisions, petitioners carry a far greater obligation in proving that errors of law had been significant rather than innocuous. If an appellate court can find any reasonable argument that the error wouldn’t have modified the judgment (and is consequently “harmless”), it will refuse to overturn the verdict.

There will most certainly be, of course, a number of cases where serious errors were made and appeals courts will overturn those decisions. Notably serious are charges that the trial court denied privileges guaranteed by the constitution, that include due process and equal protection rights.

I lost my trial due to the fact that my attorney made stupid mistakes, can’t I count on an appeal to correct them?
Don’t rely on appeals to compensate for any genuine or perceived deficiencies at trial. It is best to put all of your energy into the trial itself, which requires finding the correct lawyer to attempt the case. Successfully appealing a verdict due to the fact you had a deficient attorney is an extremely proposition. You cannot appeal because you simply had a bad lawyer.

You can appeal on the basis that your attorney was so incompetent that you simply were essentially denied your 6th Amendment right to a fair trial (identified legally as an “ineffective assistance of counsel” appeal). This occurs virtually exclusively in criminal defense circumstances and the standard for the appeal is extremely high – courts are extremely deferential to the competency of attorneys and maintain a strong presumption that the lawyer’s assistance was within professional standards. To put it in perspective, there have been situations where an attorney has fallen asleep during a trial, yet the verdict was not overturned nor the case retried.

Many circumstances aren’t eligible for appeal since the trial attorney did not object to a ruling during the trial, and therefore didn’t “preserve” that issue for appeal. For example, a written statement from a witness accusing a defendant of robbery is entered into evidence, but the witness does not testify at trial. The defense attorney does not object and the defendant is convicted based solely on the written statement. The Confrontation Clause of the 6th Amendment guarantees a defendant the right to face his accuser, a right which, if infringed, could form the basis for an appeal.

Because the attorney neglected to object at trial to the admission of a written statement rather than live testimony, however, the defendant is deemed to have waived this priviledge and an appeal will possibly not be allowed on that issue.

The example sounds absurd; an attorney waives your constitutional right through ineptitude, yet your appeal on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel fails – but it happens frequently. An appeals court may reason that putting the witness on the stand wouldn’t have had any beneficial effect for the defendant and consequently the decision not to object may well be considered a trial strategy. That’s the type of deferential latitude attorneys get in ineffective assistance of counsel appeals and the reason why it is very important to choose your attorney wisely at the very beginning of the process and stay involved during each aspect of the trial.

What is a writ?

A writ is a directive from a higher court ordering a lower court or government official to take a certain action in accordance with the law. For example, if a lower court decides to try a cause that is out of its jurisdiction, one or more of the legal professionals taking part may object and seek a writ of mandamus (writ of mandate) from an appeals court ordering the lower court to transfer the case to another jurisdiction.

How do writs and appeals differ?

Writs are extraordinary court orders and only issued in cases where a moving party (the one seeking the writ) has no other remedies. In the case of the writ of mandamus from above, the moving party had to act quickly due to the fact the lower court improperly took the case. If the moving party had simply objected at trial and waited to appeal, a great waste of time and money would have occured – and all for nada if the trial court improperly took the case.

Generally, superior courts won’t review conclusions of a lower court until a final verdict is delivered, for the aforementioned reasons of efficiency and leeway given to lower courts. Unlike appeals, which require a final verdict, writs are swift orders and extraordinary in that the typical course of a trial is disrupted, potentially causing disorder and delay.

Courts do not take such events lightly and superior courts do not issue writs often. A court will only issue a writ when a lower court wrongly decided an issue, permanent harm would occur to a party, and there are no other options.

Courts could also issue writs, such as writs of attachment and execution, in order to force compliance with a courts order by an unwilling party.

What’s a writ of habeas corpus?

A writ of habeas corpus is a judicial mandate to a prison official ordering that an inmate be produced to the court so it can be determined whether or not that person is imprisoned lawfully and whether or not he or she should be released from custody.

Literally translated, a writ of habeas corpus is a court order to “produce the body,” and is generally filed by those in prison, though they are also filed by those who have been held in contempt of court by a judge and either imprisoned or threatened with imprisonment. Also identified as “the Great Writ,” habeas petitions are ordinarily referred to as the hallmark of the United States justice system. As opposed to other countries where the governing administration may throw individuals in jail and keep them there indefinitely without filing charges or conducting a hearing, habeas corpus serves as a check on the government and offers prisoners a legal avenue to protest their imprisonment.

A habeas corpus petition can be filed in state or federal court. Before filing in federal court, however, all state options must be exhausted first.

Everyone has the privilege to challenge illegal imprisonment or inhuman prison conditions. Like all writs, however, courts will insist on clear and convincing evidence in support of a writ and do not issue them frequently.

Houston Appeals Defense: The Charles Johnson Law Firm

Dealing with the appeals process is challenging and time consuming. An experienced attorney from the Charles Johnson Law Firm in Houston, Texas can help you plan your next move. Contact us today for a free initial consultation.