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WORK WITH A CRIMINAL APPEALS LAWYER
If you have been convicted of an offense in Fort Worth and believe that errors or mistakes occurred in the trial court–whether by the judge, the jury, the prosecutor, or your own trial attorney, you have the right to appeal. Hire an experienced criminal appeals lawyer to help you as the court of appeals reviews the trial court proceeding for error.
Whether you believe errors or mistakes occurred in the trial court or you want an appellate attorney to review your case for potential errors, you should contact a competent criminal appeals lawyer immediately so that you do not lose your right to appeal.
HOW TO APPEAL A CONVICTION IN TEXAS
1. Hire a criminal appeals lawyer
There is a limited time to appeal a conviction, so you should immediately discuss your case and your right to appeal with a Fort Worth appellate attorney. An experienced appellate lawyer will help you file your notice of appeal.
2. File a timely notice of appeal
There is a limited time to appeal a conviction, so you should immediately discuss your case and your right to appeal with a Fort Worth appellate attorney. An experienced appellate lawyer will help you file your notice of appeal.
3. Send a brief for review by Court of Appeals (COA)
After timely filing a notice of appeal and after the appellate court receives the record of the trial court proceedings, the appealing party (the appellant) must file a written brief with the court of appeals pointing out specific errors that occurred in the case and citing to applicable law as support. The written brief must comply with a number of procedural rules. The other party (the appellee) then has the opportunity to file a written brief in response.
The court of appeals reviews the parties’ written briefs and may hear brief oral arguments from the lawyers for each side, but the court will not hear witness testimony or retry the case. If the court of appeals decides that an error occurred in the trial court, the court of appeals may, depending on the error, order a new trial or enter a judgment of acquittal. The court of appeals will issue a written opinion stating its decision.
Justin was my lawyer for a case I had with Tarrant County. He was very responsive, professional, and helped us sooo much! I ended up having everything dismissed. Definitely highly recommend!
- Payton R.
I cannot say enough good things about this law firm! They took care of me and immediately started working my case. They knew exactly what to do as soon as I told them my story.
- Alana B.
WHAT DOES THE COURT OF APPEALS DO?
The court of appeals can:
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Review whether the prosecution presented sufficient evidence to support the verdict or whether the defendant’s trial attorneys were ineffective.
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Decide questions of law, such as whether the trial court correctly applied the law to admit or exclude evidence or whether the trial court gave the jury proper jury instructions.
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Consider a variety of other legal issues and their impact on the verdict.
A court of appeals will not hear additional testimony, consider additional evidence, or retry a case.
If the appellate court agrees that there was an error in the trial court, the court of appeals will often have to decide if the error harmed the appellant. For example, if the court of appeals decides that the trial court erred by admitting certain evidence at trial, it will also need to decide if the defendant was harmed by that evidence, in other words, whether the verdict would have been different if the trial court had correctly excluded that evidence.
If you have been convicted of an offense in the Dallas / Fort Worth area and believe that errors or mistakes occurred in the trial court, call the Sparks Law Firm today.