Steps Involved in Filing a Criminal Appeal After Conviction
A criminal conviction can leave you questioning what happened at trial and whether a mistake you made affected the outcome. You may be worried about incarceration, fines, your record, your career, or the impact on your family. While an appeal doesn’t automatically grant a second trial, it lets you ask a higher court to review legal errors that may have occurred during your case.
Criminal appeals have strict procedural requirements, so it's essential to act as soon as possible after sentencing. At Danford Law Firm, our attorneys help clients review convictions, identify potential appellate issues, and determine what steps may be available under Texas law.
Located in Kerrville, Texas, we serve residents in Boerne, Fredericksburg, Bandera, Junction, throughout the Texas Hill Country, and in San Angelo. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and discuss whether filing an appeal may be appropriate.
Step 1: File the Notice of Appeal Before the Deadline
In Texas, you generally have 30 days after sentencing to file an appeal, or 90 days if a timely motion for a new trial has been filed. Missing these deadlines can limit your right to a direct appeal. Several early deadlines may need attention:
Notice of appeal: This document formally begins the appellate process and tells the court that you intend to challenge the judgment.
Motion for new trial: Texas rules generally require this motion to be filed no later than 30 days after sentencing in open court. Certain issues may need to be raised at this stage so that evidence can be developed in the trial court.
Requesting the record: The appellate case will rely heavily on the clerk’s record and the reporter’s record from the trial proceedings.
Preserving deadlines: Appeals involve several filing dates after the initial notice, so keeping an accurate calendar is important.
Acting promptly gives appellate counsel more time to review your case and determine whether additional post-trial filings should be considered. If you are considering filing an appeal, contact a Texas criminal defense lawyer as soon as possible.
Step 2: Review the Trial Record for Appealable Errors
Criminal appeals usually focus on what happened during the trial court. The appellate court will review the record to decide whether legal error occurred and, when required, whether that error affected the judgment.
Potential appellate issues can arise from many parts of a case, such as the admission or exclusion of evidence, rulings on pretrial motions, jury instructions, sufficiency of the evidence, sentencing questions, or other trial court decisions.
An appeal generally isn’t an opportunity to simply present your case again with a different argument. The appealed issues may also depend on whether an objection or request was properly raised in the trial court.
It's important to note that the appellate record will follow its own deadlines. Under the Texas rules of appellate procedure, the record in a criminal case is generally due within 60 days after sentencing when no motion for new trial is filed, or within 120 days when a timely motion for new trial has been filed and denied.
Step 3: Prepare an Appellate Brief
The appellate brief explains the alleged errors to the appellate court, cites the relevant portions of the record, applies governing law, and states what relief the appellant is asking the court to provide.
Texas appellate rules generally require an appellant’s brief to be filed within 30 days after the filing of the clerk’s record or reporter’s record, subject to certain exceptions and possible extensions. The prosecution then has an opportunity to respond, and the appellant can file a reply.
The court may decide the case based on the written briefs and record, or it may permit oral argument in some cases. During oral argument, both sides' attorneys will answer questions from the appellate judges and discuss the legal issues presented in the briefs.
Possible outcomes during this stage may include affirming the conviction, reversing the judgment, modifying part of the judgment, or sending the matter back to the trial court for additional proceedings.
Step 4: Consider Further Review After the Court of Appeals Decides
Criminal appeals don’t necessarily end when an intermediate appellate court issues its decision. Depending on the outcome and the legal issues involved, you may be able to seek additional review.
In some cases, you may be able to seek a rehearing in the court of appeals when appropriate or ask the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest court for criminal matters, to review the decision.
Any review by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is generally discretionary in non-death-penalty criminal cases. A petition for discretionary review ordinarily must be filed within 30 days after the court of appeals issues its judgment or after the last timely motion for rehearing or en banc reconsideration is overruled.
The petition must identify the grounds that warrant further review. Filing a petition doesn’t mean the court will accept your case.
Discuss a Criminal Appeal After a Conviction with Danford Law Firm
Filing a criminal appeal after a conviction involves more than telling a higher court that you disagree with the verdict. Criminal appeals require prompt filing, careful review of the trial record, identification of preserved legal issues, persuasive briefing, and attention to each stage of appellate review.
At Danford Law Firm, our attorneys, Harold J. Danford, Jonathan R. O'Hara, and Thomas J. Hurt, can help you review the circumstances surrounding a conviction and determine whether criminal appeals or other post-conviction options are available.
We can review the court record, discuss possible grounds for appeal, and explain what the appellate process could involve in your particular situation.
Located in Kerrville, Texas, we serve clients throughout Boerne, Fredericksburg, Bandera, Junction, throughout the Texas Hill Country, and in San Angelo. Contact us to discuss your case and the next steps available after a criminal conviction.