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What Are Some More Questions About The Appeals Process?
Let’s look at some more questions about the court appeals process:
What Is Double-Jeopardy And How Does That Come Into Play? Does That Impact An Appeal?
First, double-jeopardy says that a person can only be tried for a crime once. So, if the state takes a case to trial, and the defendant wins, the state can’t have another trial on the case.
In some cases, something might happen where a person is brought to trial again and something that ends up being the same case as they were already tried on and if that doesn’t get dismissed, then we can raise that on appeal and say he shouldn’t have had that trial because there was a double-jeopardy violation.
The other way that comes into play for appeals is that the state can never appeal a loss. If the jury finds a person not guilty, the state can’t appeal. There are some rulings there it can appeal. For example, if we file a motion to exclude some evidence from trial and we lose that or we win that, the state could eventually appeal that. But if we get a not guilty at trial, the state cannot appeal.
What Are The Misconceptions Or Misunderstandings About How the Appeals Process Works?
People tend to think it’s another chance to try their case and present the evidence. So that’s probably the number one thing that I explain to people is that we can’t bring in new evidence, we can’t bring in the neighbor that just came forward and said he saw this or the victim lied in the stand and said so later.
We’re stuck with what evidence the trial court heard and what’s in the transcript and what’s in the record. So, it’s limited in the scope in that way. You can’t have somebody come in and testify to the court of appeals from new evidence or anything like that.
After An Appeal, If The Court Approved It Or Reversed The Decision, What Happens Then? Is Everything Just Dropped?
In most cases, the case will get sent back for another trial. In some cases, the court could just throw the whole case out and dismiss it. And it could be a complete victory right then. But in most cases, it gets sent back to the trial court to do it again and do it correctly.
Is This When You Can Introduce A New Evidence In The Trial?
Yes. If you get a new trial, it starts over and if there is new evidence or there could be new testimony or, it’s a restart to the whole trial.
Do Most People That Come For Appeal, Have Been Through The First Trial Or Are They Totally Fresh Clients?
Typically, it’s a new attorney because they have to review the case for ineffective assistance for the trial counsel; in other words, that the trial counsel made some sort of mistake and did something wrong.
So, if you appeal your own case, it’s hard to review your own case and then argue with the court that you screwed up when you were an attorney. So, typically a different attorney will handle the appeal so that they can review the other attorney’s work as well.
But it’s not just a mistake that the judge might make or the trial court might make; it’s also reviewed for things that the defense attorney might have done so poorly that the defendant didn’t get a fair trial.
Are Expungements Ever Available In Ohio Or Sealed Records Available And How Does That Work If Someone Has Been Able To Have A Conviction Appealed?
If the conviction is successfully appealed and it’s no longer a conviction or you won the whole thing, then the record can get sealed just as if it was the dismissed case. There is no time for eligibility, you can just apply and have it sealed.
If you lose the appeal, then it can be sealed based on its eligibility, will be sealed normally. You can try to get it sealed before you try the appeal and you can still try to seal it after you appeal it.
Is It A Very Difficult Process For Clients To Go Through? Having Gone Through The Trial Once And Potentially Going Through It Again?
It’s difficult because it’s so long. If a person is waiting in jail to see if their case is going to get another chance, then certainly a lot of their life is going by in the meantime. The proceeding themselves are high threats because the clients typically don’t go with the court, they don’t have to write the briefs, they are not really as involved at the appellate level as they would be at the trial level.
So, the long waiting is the biggest source of stress in an appeal.
If you need more answers on how the appeals process works, call the Law Office of Matthew Bangerter or visit our office at 4124 Erie Street Willoughby, OH 44094 for an initial consultation at (440) 306-3205 and get the information and legal answers you’re seeking.
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