How to Appeal a Crime in Texas

How to Appeal a Crime in Texas

It is generally said that a person is innocent until proven guilty, but that is not always the case. Even when a court finds a person to be guilty of a crime, their fate is not necessarily sealed. When a person has been convicted of a crime, they have the options to appeal the court decision if it was made unfairly.

A Court's Verdict May Not Be Legal

An appeal can be filed if it can be argued that legal mistakes were made that swayed the outcome of the trial. If a person decides to appeal their crime, they must do so with an attorney.

There are some important steps that must be followed during the appeals process:

  1. File an appeal within 30 days of the original verdict that will explain what in the trial is being appealed.
  2. Obtain the records of the trial, including the clerk's copy and the reporter's copy.
  3. Work with an attorney to prepare a brief, which details the issues with the original trial and provides legal evidence to support the claim.
  4. Prepare an oral argument to be presented to a panel of judges in a local court of appeals.
  5. Wait for the decision from the judges that determines whether the appeal was successful.

An appeals case will not let any new witnesses speak or examine new evidence, but will look at the existing court records. The higher court will look at statements presented from the prosecution and the defense in order to determine whether or not a legal precedent was breached and administer a ruling from this information. If a person loses in the court of appeals, they have the right to seek an appeal from an even higher court.

Every person has a right to a fair trial, and being wrongly convicted because a trial did not uphold legal precedents should not be tolerated. If you or a loved one are seeking to appeal a court decision made within the last 30 days, waste no time in contacting the Zendeh Del Law Firm, PLLC to begin the process.