arizona criminal APPEALS POST CONVICTION lawyer & attorney

Arizona Court of Appeals and Post-Conviction Relief

If you or your loved one has been convicted of a criminal offense, you have the right to bring your case to the Arizona Court of Appeals. If a plea of guilt has been entered, a post-conviction relief petition may be filed asking that the case be re-considered. You have the right to appeal both your conviction and your sentence. In the State of Arizona, a post-conviction remedy is a Rule 32 Petition of Post-Conviction Relief. In appellate court, having a knowledgeable and experienced criminal defense attorney to assist you or your loved one is of great help. There are very specific time-lines and requirements for appeals or petitions. You will need to act as soon as possible to make sure that the opportunity to appeal will not close on your matter.

An appeal is a request to a higher court to review and change the decision of a lower court. The Arizona Court of Appeals process begins when your case is brought before the Superior Court. After that, jurisdiction is passed to the Arizona State Appellate Court, then on to the Arizona Supreme Court, The Ninth Circuit Court, and finally to the United States Supreme Court. The road your case will travel is based on your specific circumstances and what court your matter initially was handled by.

If you or your loved one receives a "guilty" verdict, it does not always mean that the case is over. If you believe that you or your loved one has been wrongfully convicted in the court, whether through an error by the judge or jury or by how the court handled the case or evidence, there are a number of options available to you, including pursuing your rights and freedoms in the Arizona appellate court system.

Grounds for an Appellate Court Claim in Arizona

There are many potential grounds for an appeal following a guilty verdict in a criminal matter, including the following: allowing inadmissible evidence, lack of sufficient evidence to support a verdict of guilt, jury misconduct, and mistakes in the judge's charge to the jury; just to name a few. Let our office review your matter and stand with you in the appeal of a guilty verdict. A knowledgeable and aggressive defense attorney will be able to help you or your loved one find the justice they so truly deserve. Do not let a mistake by the court or the jury go by without following up on a possible appeal. The appellate process works with existing evidence and testimonies; your attorney will present this evidence and testimony in a manner that convinces the appellate court of the validity of the request for review. The use of court transcripts is essential to your appeal.

It is possible to have your conviction and/or sentence set aside on grounds that the conviction or sentence violated one or more of your constitutional rights or that new evidence has been discovered since your trial. Newly discovered evidence could not have been found before the trial, and your attorney will argue that if this newly found evidence was presented earlier on, it would likely have resulted in a different verdict or outcome. Having an experienced defense attorney review the specific facts in your matter and advise you on the options available through the Arizona Court of Appeals is in your best interest. In some cases, a judge can set aside a conviction or sentence in the interest of justice. If your plea or sentence was imposed in violation of a constitutional right, if your sentence was illegal, if the law under which you were convicted is unconstitutional, if the court did not have proper jurisdiction over you or your offense, or if new evidence has come to light since your conviction, you may have a post conviction remedy.

Filing a Notice of Appeal in arizona courts

To pursue a claim in appellate court, you or our loved one will need to file a Notice of Appeal immediately after conviction/sentencing. The Notice of Appeal is a brief document which alerts the trial court that an appeal will be sought, and which in turn alerts the court clerk to start preparing the transcripts for review by the higher courts. If you do not file a notice of appeal or if the notice is filed too late, the ability to file an appeal may be lost to you or your loved one. An aggressive and experienced defense attorney will be able to guide you through the complex Arizona Court of Appeals process.

Prosecutors, attorneys, judges, and juries all make mistakes and there is no reason why you or your loved one must accept the trial court's conclusion. In most cases, you have a right to an appeal. Do not let this right to pursue your case through the Arizona Appellate Court process pass and have your freedoms and future ended due to an error. An appeal may be able to right the injustice of your conviction. Each case has its unique facts and the law applicable to your matter will depend on these facts. A knowledgeable defense attorney will help you and review your specific matter.

Claiming Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees the right to effective assistance of counsel to every defendant in a criminal matter. While the term "effective assistance of counsel" does not mean perfect counsel, a lawyer's representation of a client becomes "ineffective" when it falls below an objective standard of reasonableness and in turn prejudices the defendant. It is up to the defendant and their new attorney to establish ineffective assistance of counsel, however if this can be shown, the conviction may be reversed. The court will usually focus on constitutional issues, and will need to see that the actions or lack of actions on the part of your original counsel would have resulted in a different outcome. This is when an experienced defense attorney will assist in a properly formulated argument, which will allow the appellate court to reconsider your sentence or trial.

Recently, an argument pertaining to individuals facing deportation, extradition or enhanced sentencing has been raised for post-conviction relief. In these matters, if the defense counsel failed to advise a client of the immigration consequences of a criminal conviction, ineffective counsel can be a reason for the case to be heard by the Arizona Court of Appeals. When you are facing sentences and a conviction on an unknowing involuntary plea, it should be possible to pursue a post-conviction relief in Arizona appellate court. An aggressive and experienced defense attorney will be able to review your matter, and if there is a possibility to move forward with your post-conviction claim, they will stand by you and put your matter before the court for consideration.

Arizona Appellate Court Statutes

Under the Arizona Revised Statutes, the following sections will be relevant to your matter:

• §13-905 Restoration of Rights
• §13-907 Setting aside convictions

        Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure

• Rule 29 Restoration of civil rights or vacation of conviction
• Rule 30 Appeals from limited jurisdiction courts
• Rule 31 Appeal from superior court
• Rule 32 Other post-conviction relief

        Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure with Ninth Circuit Rules

• FRAP Title II Appeal from a judgment or Order of a District Court
• FRAP Title VI Habeas Corpus

The limited time allowed for an appeal is as short as 14 days from the time you or your loved one was convicted. For this reason and a multitude of others, it is important that you enlist an experienced attorney to begin the Arizona Appellate Court process.