If you are convicted of a crime, and you believe an error was committed, you may appeal your conviction. An appeal is not a new trial, however. Rather, it is a petition to the appellate court to review the trial process and determine if the trial court was right in its decision or not.
If you believe the court or the prosecution made certain mistakes that impacted the outcome of your case, then you can appeal your conviction. But winning an appeal is often a complex process that has a lot of pitfalls. Here are two things you need to keep in mind:
File the appeal on time
While delivering the verdict, the judge will often inform you about your right of appeal. Additionally, they will advise you about the appeal timeline. It is extremely important that your appeal is filed within the limited timeline. If not, then your appeal may be refused.
Understand the basis of your appeal
Appealing a criminal conviction can be quite complicated. Just because you are unhappy with the outcome of your case doesn’t mean that you can successfully appeal the case. There must be a valid ground or grounds for your appeal. Some of the grounds upon which you can appeal a conviction are:
- Inadequate representation
- Prosecutorial misconduct
- The emergence of exonerating evidence
- Sentencing mistakes
The price of an unjust conviction is too much for anybody to have to bear. Understanding Tennessee criminal justice system can help you build a strong case when appealing your conviction.
