Akron Criminal Appeals Lawyer

Appealing Your Criminal Conviction in Ohio

While being convicted of a criminal offense in Ohio may seem like a permanent decision, there may still be hope! By filing a criminal appeal, you may be able to overturn a sentence or have the penalties reduced. As an Akron appellate attorney with more than a decade of experience, I can help you appeal a conviction for the last chance at freedom, whether your case needs to be appealed at the state or federal level.

In the state of Ohio, each defendant is entitled to have his or her criminal conviction reviewed by the court of appeals. This ensures that you were given a fair trial. An appeal is not a completely new trial where new pieces of evidence and defense strategies are introduced. Instead, if there were legal errors made at your trial, this appeal may give you the opportunity to have a re-trial and potentially have your charges or sentence reduced.

Need help filing an appeal for your criminal conviction? Contact our Akron appellate lawyer today!

What is an appeal?

When you request an appeal, you ask a higher court to review your case for any legal errors. As the defendant, you will be permitted to argue that legal mistakes influenced the judge or jury's decision or the sentence that is issued. A successful appeal should either dismiss your case or allow it to be re-tried.

What is the appeals process in Ohio?

To begin the appeals process, you must file a Notice of Appeal within 30 days of your judgment. If your appeal does not get filed within the time limitations or does not contain the proper documents, then it may be dismissed before ever reaching a judge.

When the higher court reviews your case, only the record of the proceeding should be evaluated and no new evidence can be considered. The government can file its own brief to demonstrate why that sentence should be upheld. In response, the defendant can file a second brief to challenge the government's position. In most cases, oral arguments will be presented to the appellate panel before the case is decided.

Even if you lose the first appeal, the decision may be appealed again to a higher court, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Who is eligible to file an appeal?

In order to file for an appeal, you must be able to show that the court made a legal mistake on your case. In addition, you must file before 30 days of the date of your verdict, or else your appeal will be dismissed. The court does not have the ability to make extensions.

Contact Me for a Free Case Evaluation

If you are seeking legal representation from my Akron firm, you can benefit from me scrutinizing your case to develop a strong argument of why the sentence should be challenged. I can review the record of all relevant proceedings to ensure that your constitutional due process rights are safeguarded. In some cases, the judge may not have correctly instructed the jury, may have misinterpreted the law, or may have abused his or her power.

How to Appeal Your Criminal Conviction

Appeals do not happen instantaneously. There are rules and limitations that go hand in hand with an appeal. For example, if you have been convicted of a felony, a notice of appeal must be filed no more than 30 days after your conviction and sentence were entered. If the deadline is missed, you can request a delayed appeal and must offer a valid reason for failing to comply with the deadline given. There is no guarantee that you will be granted a delayed appeal.

The court of appeals staff cannot determine if you are eligible for an appeal. The following documents define an appealable order:

• Ohio Revised Code Section 2505.02
• Ohio Civic Rule 54 (B)
• Ohio Criminal Rule 32