If you have been convicted of a crime in DeKalb County, GA, you have precisely 30 days to file an appeal (or to file a Motion for a New Trial, which will extend the time for filing an appeal). Starting a Georgia Post-Conviction Appeal The process for starting the Georgia criminal post-conviction appeal process involves… Read More
Three years after being sentenced to federal prison for the receipt of bribes from a San Antonio lawyer, a former district judge lost an appeal. Part of the appeal alleges that the man’s former attorneys convinced him not to cooperate with an FBI investigation because these attorneys were among those being investigated. Due to this… Read More
A former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State physician was charged in December, 2017 of sexually abusing hundreds of women and girls under the guise of providing medical treatment and sentenced to 60 years in prison. The former physician was also later convicted in Michigan state court after a large collection of child pornography was found… Read More
After a 2015 United States Supreme Court ruling that declared the law was too vague regarding what constitutes a “violent career criminal,” a convicted murderer’s 15-year sentence must now be examined over again. As a result, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that a defendant was potentially wrongly sentenced to… Read More
A federal appeals court recently upheld the conviction of a man who shot and killed a Millard County sheriff’s deputy. The man was sentenced in 2017 to life in prison plus 80 years for the death of a law enforcement officer during a job. This decision occurred after a jury previously acquitted the man of… Read More
8th Amendment Rights A federal appeals court recently upheld the death sentence of a man who killed a South Dakota doughnut shop worker in 1992. The South Dakota Attorney General later commented that the 8th Circuit’s decision, in this case, was “appropriate and constitutional.” The decision comes after the man was convicted in 1993 and… Read More
5th Circuit Court of Appeals, Rejects Appeal From Death Row Inmate The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals recently rejected an appeal from a death row inmate who participated in the “Texas 7” gang of escaped prisoners. Legal counsel for the man tried to argue to a court of law that evidence failed to establish that… Read More
Section 851 of the Controlled Substances Act (or, 21 U.S.C. 851) authorizes federal prosecutors to use a defendant’s prior felony drug conviction to subject a defendant to an increased penalty. This law is commonly used in appeals. Recently, the Ninth Circuit in United States v. Ocampo-Estrada vacated a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence that was imposed… Read More
Discretionary appeals refer to a type of appeal in which an appellate court has the power to determine whether an appeal will be reviewed by the court. These appeals offer appellate courts, which have very busy schedules, an option to decide which issues are heard. As a result of discretionary appeals, appellate courts are able… Read More
After a defendant is convicted and sentenced, the worry becomes time spent in imprisonment. What happens when a defendant has a case for an appeal? In some instances, defendants can be released from imprisonment on bail even after they have been convicted and sentenced, while they appeal their convictions. Rules of Detainment The federal rules… Read More