Appeal

An Appeal is a request made to a higher court to review the decision of a lower court. For example, a criminal appeal can be filed when someone is convicted of a crime and feels there was a mistake in the trial. Trial errors are unintentionally made in a number of ways by attorneys, jurors and/or judges:

• Evidence may have been used against the person but shouldn't have
• Evidence that might have helped the person was wrongly kept out of the trial
• The wrong law might have been applied
• An attorney may have made an inappropriate argument
• The jury instructions may have confused the jurors
• The sentence was not appropriate for the crime

A criminal appeal gives the convicted person a second chance to obtain justice. When an error is discovered, the court's decision can be reversed. See also, Appellant, Appellee, Court of Appeals. Click here for more information on Appeals.