The Process
When a person who believes they are innocent receives a guilty verdict in the trial court, they can appeal to prove there innocence. According to the U.S. Courts.gov, In order for a case to be considered by an appellate court, a written brief (a summary of the issue at hand) must be submitted and then chosen to present an oral argument. The United States Courts tells us that an oral argument will take the form as a “discussion” between the attorney’s and the panel of judges (uscourts.gov). Each side have around 15 minutes to present their side of their argument to the judges (uscourts.gov). Typically, the appeal will be final unless it is sent back down to the trial court or the party is unhappy with the appeal decision they have received and seek for the U.S Supreme Court to review the case (although this is very difficult as they only hear a small amount per year) (uscourts.gov). When asking for the Supreme Court to review a case, an attorney must file a petition for a “writ of certiorari” (uscourts.gov). A writ of certiorari is just the document that asks the Supreme Court the review the case (uscourts.gov). The Supreme Court will typically take a case when it involves an unusually important legal matter or when the law is interpreted differently by two or more federal appellate courts (uscourts.gov). In a criminal case appeal, the defendant is permitted to appeal their guilty verdict but the government cannot appeal the decision of the defendant being found not guilty, but, both sides have the right to an appeal the sentence after a guilty verdict is reached (uscourts.gov).
There are 12 geographic circuit courts that the United States are divided up into. There, courts hear appeals that come from the U.S district courts (Greenberg and Page, 2018). Once a case is complete in one of these circuit courts, an opinion is written that talks about why the majority and minority voted the way they did on that case (Greenberg and Page, 2018). A majority opinion would be what the majority of the judges think about the case. A concurring opinion would be when a judge agrees with the majority opinion but for different reasons then the majority stated for voting that way. A dissenting opinion would be the opinions who do not agree with the way the majority of the judges voted. After the judges on the panel make their decisions on an issue, the decision becomes a precedent that is used to guide decisions of other judges in that circuit (Greenberg and Page, 2018). The decision that judges make in their circuit court is what determines the law for the people who live in that particular circuit (Greenberg and Page, 2018).
In an appellate court, the judges review the procedures and the decisions made during the trial court and decide whether or not the laws were applied correctly and if the proceedings were fair (uscourts.gov). After receiving a verdict from the trial court, the losing side would have the right to appeal if there was an issue with court proceedings, an issue with the laws that were applied or how the laws were applied (uscourts.gov).
In a trial court the defendant is the side that is brought to court based on incriminating evidence. The prosecutor is that state, presenting the possible incriminating evidence of the suspect. In an appellate court, the petitioner is the side that wants an appeal, it brings the request to the appellate court of a review of their case (uscourts.gov). A respondent is the side that will be responding to the issue presented in the petitioner’s case (uscourts.gov).
In a criminal case, the defendant is the only one who has a right to appeal their verdict (americanbar.org). A prosecutor is not allowed to file an appeal because of the double jeopardy ruse stated in the Constitution, which does not allow someone to be tried for the same crime twice (americanbar.org). When a defendant uses all of their rights to appeal at the state level, they have the right to file a habeas corpus in the federal courts (americanbar.org). This is when the defendant tries to show that their federal constitutional rights were violated (americanbar.org).
If the appellate court decides to reverse the original verdict, the case will be sent back down to the lower court (americanbar.org). Once this occurs, a number of things can happen: a new trial will be held, the trial court’s judgment will be modified or corrected or the trial court can relook at the facts, new evidence or look at the case based on a decision by the appellate court (americanbar.org).