What You Should Know About Appeals
A criminal appeal is a request for a higher court to reconsider the decisions of the trial court. An appeal is often your best option if you believe that a legal mistake was made which could have changed the outcome of your case. For example, if the trial court permitted a piece of evidence or testimony to be admitted for which there was a legal principle that if followed would have excluded that evidence. When your attorney offers an objection at trial, he or she is laying the groundwork for the appellate court to review the trial court’s decision as to that evidence. If your trial attorney filed a pre-trial motion which was denied that also can be reviewed by the appellate court. You must move quickly to file an appeal. Florida law allows only 30 days from the date of the final judgment and sentencing to file a notice of appeal.
It is essential that you consult with an experienced appellate lawyer when deciding whether or not to file an appeal. Glenn Swiatek has the experience to correctly handle your criminal appeal. He is one of the few attorneys in northwest Florida who devotes a significant amount of his practice to criminal appeals and post conviction relief. What should be of great importance to you is that Glenn Swiatek only handles criminal appeals – not civil.
There are many issues that must be examined when an attorney looks for the legal grounds which would entitle you to file for an appeal. Unlike a Petition for Post Conviction Relief which is mainly for dealing with the performance of your trial counsel, an appeal is reserved for mistakes of law which were made at the trial level. Those mistakes could be the admission or exclusion of certain evidence, improper jury instructions or even the composition of the jury itself. Glenn Swiatek will personally review your trial record and transcript and point out to you the basis for filing your appeal. He is experienced enough to also tell you when you don’t have a legal basis for an appeal and direct you to other relief that may be available.
The process of writing an appellate brief, the argument the appellate court considers, is a lengthy one. It will often take the Clerk of Court two months to prepare the trial transcript and the trial record. The trial record is a document which shows all of the filings in your case. This will include the arrest record, first appearance documents and any motions that your trial attorney filed. The transcript is the written record of all of your court testimony and your trial attorney’s arguments. When the appellate brief is filed the State of Florida, which is now represented by the Attorney General’s Office will have an opportunity to respond with its own brief. The final decision by the Court of Appeal will then sometimes take between 12 and 18 months. If you are successful you will then be entitled to a new trial. In rare circumstances the appellate court could order your immediate release and that the case against you be dismissed. If you are not successful at the appellate level you may still be entitled to relief through the filing of a Petition for Post Conviction Relief.