It’s important to understand at the outset that the Court of Appeals does not re-try the case or hear new evidence. The job of the appellate court is merely to review the details of the trial for any possible errors, omissions or negligence that might have had a significant impact on the outcome of your trial, and to remedy these errors where they occur. The decision of the Court of Appeals may also be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, although this usually only happens if the case involves a Constitutional question, and the Supreme Court hears chooses to hear cases at its own discretion. So for all intents and purposes, the decision of the appellate court is usually final.

The appeals process usually begins immediately after conviction, as there is usually only a limited window of time after conviction for certain appeals to be filed. If you are convicted in an Alabama federal District Court, your attorney will begin by filing a “notice of appeal” expressing to the courts your intention to appeal the decision. This is followed by the appeal itself, submitted to the Court of Appeals in Atlanta, consisting of a written brief detailing the specific instances of legal error or negligence that denied you due process or illegitimately affected the outcome of the trial. Your attorney may also be summoned to give a brief oral argument in front of the appellate court judges; however, the majority of appeals are decided by the written briefs alone. Thus, it’s critically important that the brief be written flawlessly, because it may be the only opportunity for the attorney to convince the judges that your disputes are legitimate.