Criminal Appeals
If you need an attorney that provides high quality appellate services, Mack Law is the intelligent choice. Call us today.
Defendants who are convicted after a trial or Defendants who enter a plea after losing a dispositive motion, have the right to appeal. Losing does NOT always mean you have an appealable issue. A successful criminal appeal is dependent on an incorrect legal ruling in the trial court. A factual dispute is not likely to result in a successful appeal. Always have your case reviewed if you do not receive the results you anticipated. But, please be cautioned that appeals are very costly. Not only are attorneys fees involved, but the cost of the transcript and the cost of the record on appeal can be prohibitive. The filing fees are governed by statute; you can expect to pay at least $400 for the filing fee alone. Other costs are governed by the record at the trial level.
Appeals are also timely; you have 30 days from the date of the ruling you want to appeal. If you fail to act in the time required, you lose your ability to appeal. Lawyers call this jurisdiction. If a court loses jurisdiction due to an untimely appeal, there is rarely any relief available. Sometimes, you can ask the Court to stay the sentence pending the appeal. This is a discretionary matter and is highly dependent on the charge, the past record and the position of the office of the State Attorney.
In the criminal appeals of Mack Law, we almost always represents a convicted Defendant, as Appellant, attempting to "overturn" the conviction, which, if successful, gives the State the opportunity to retry the Defendant. On some occasions, the Defendant prevails in a pre-trial suppression motion, the State appeals, and the Firm represents the Defendant, as Appellee. The Firm’s criminal appeals typically involve many kinds of cases. Contact us today for a professional and highly detailed review.