For example, the criminal attorney representing Terrence Graham has done good work to appeal his client’s case, taking the appeal all the way to the level of the Supreme Court to get Terrence a more suitable sentence for his crime.  As a young man of just 17, Terrence was an accomplice in a violent robbery and one year later was charged with burglary and violation of probation.  The judge for his second offense sentenced Graham to prison, for life.  A criminal defense attorney knows when the punishment is disproportionate to the crime and when it may be appropriate to file for an appeal.  The appellate attorney in Graham’s case argued that the life sentence conflicted with the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel or unusual punishment.  Just days ago the Supreme Court made a decision in favor of Graham and other juvenile criminals who have been sentenced to life in prison.  They ruled that juveniles who commit crimes in which no one is killed cannot be sentenced to life without parole.  The Supreme Court Justices deliberated and the majority decided that it was inhumane for such individuals to never have the possibility of being released from prison.  This ruling will provide criminal lawyers new grounds to appeal in similar cases and hopefully any individual who has been unfairly sentenced for a crime committed as a juvenile will now have the chance to rectify their mistake and reenter into society.  Kids make mistakes, and they certainly do not deserve to be punished for their entire life for charges like robbery, burglary, or even assault where no irreparable bodily harm occurred.   As this Supreme Court ruling shows, justice in America is based on the values of our Founding Fathers, but is maintained and adapted to reflect new circumstances and the modern world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/us/politics/18court.html

The Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that an indigent defendant, one who cannot afford a criminal defense attorney, has the right to counsel in all cases that could carry a sentence of imprisonment (http://justice.uaa.alaska.edu/forum/13/2summer1996/b_indigen.html).  However, criminal defendants who are entitled to a public defender will often find a way to pay for a criminal defense attorney.  The reason for this is that while public defenders may have an exceptional amount of experience in defending criminal cases, a private criminal attorney has more time and resources to put towards any individual client.  Is a private defense attorney worth the money?  A study conducted by Emory University suggests that it is. Economist Paul Rueben and trial judge Morris B. Hoffman examined all cases filed in Denver, Colorado and concluded that the average sentence of people represented by a public defender was three years longer than those represented by a private criminal lawyer (http://lawvibe.com/public-defenders-or-private-defense-lawyers-whos-better/).

No one understands the seriousness of a lack of adequate representation more than Jamie Ryan Weiss, a Georgia man charged with killing an elderly woman during a robbery.  Due to lack of appropriate funding, the two criminal defense lawyers with death penalty experience who were supposed to represent Mr. Weiss were replaced by public defenders who did not have the time or qualifications to defend a death penalty case.  The Georgia Supreme Court is in the process of deciding whether Mr. Weiss, who by Constitutional Law is entitled to a “vigorous defense,” will be entitled to a criminal lawyer with death penalty experience or if his case will stay in the public defense system.  Delays in the trial caused by this battle over representation have already caused Weiss to lose a key witness, his mother, who died during the setback.

Defendants are not always able to choose between a public defender and a private attorney because of lack of financial resources.  While Mr. Weiss’ case is an extreme example of the repercussions of inadequate defense, it highlights the importance of securing the best defense for yourself possible.   If you were on trial, what would be your choice?

For more information regarding Mr. Weiss’ case go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/us/26georgia.html

Mr. Bain is currently ecstatic after finding out that he will be released from jail after spending thirty five years in prison. His main concern after being released is taking care of his handicapped mother. It is very disturbing that innocent people like James Bain, are charged and sentenced to a lifetime in prison where their life is wasted away. Thanks to states like Florida, who has passed a statute that allows the reopening of cases for DNA testing, people like Mr. Bain can finally get their life back. Criminal attorneys should look into such new statutes and up to date on all laws.
           

James Bain’s case is an example of why it is vital to obtain a criminal defense attorney when being accused of a sex crime. There are many methods of defending a person from sex crime charges, one method being DNA testing. The use of technology in the courtrooms has grown with the development of new scientific techniques that aid the precision of the criminal defense. A sex crime attorney can seek this new practice, as well investigate the history of the alleged victim which will strengthen one’s case and prevent further consequences. Without a criminal lawyer, you can be at risk of not understanding your options for defense and as a result face a fate similar to that of Mr. Bain’s.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/17/florida.dna.exoneration/index.html

An appeal is not a new trial. Let me repeat that – an appeal is not a NEW TRIAL. As simply as possible, the purpose of an appeal is to review the court proceedings that happened in the original trial and determined if the law (criminal procedure as well as criminal law) was followed correctly. An appeal can deal only with the matter shown in the “record.” The “record” includes only: (1) the papers in the trial court’s files and (2) a court reporter’s word-for-word record of what happened in the courtroom. The Court of Appeal cannot consider facts outside the transcripts. No criminal attorney can make them do this either. The appeals court does not hear witness testimony and doesn’t view any new evidence. The Court of Appeal has no power to decide “questions of fact”, such as whether you are guilty or innocent, or whether a certain witness was lying, or what a particular piece of evidence proves. Decisions like those are made only by the jury or trial judge. That’s why it is important to have a competent criminal defense attorney represent you in the original case so that you don’t have to deal with the very difficult process of overturning a decision.

The Court of Appeal has no power to recommend what your sentence should be, so long as the sentence you actually received is one allowed by law. The Court of Appeal cannot simply change your sentence because it does not agree with it. An appeal attorney or criminal lawyer cannot motion for a sentence modification either. The Court of Appeal deals with legal questions. It decides whether the trial court proceedings followed the law. For example, it might decide whether certain evidence was correctly admitted, whether the jury was properly instructed, or whether the trial judge gave adequate reasons for choosing a particular sentence, and other questions of those types. If the court of Appeal finds that the proceedings were conducted correctly, the judgment is “Affirmed,” which means your conviction and sentence will not change. Even if the Court of Appeal finds a legal error was made in the trial court, your judgment will be affirmed unless the court finds “prejudice”-that the error made a difference in the trial. This is a very difficult thing for an appeals attorney or any criminal defense lawyer to prove. But if a criminal attorney is successful in proving that “error” and “prejudice” did exist, then your case will be “reversed (in part or in full) and sent back to the trial court for a new trial,  a new sentence, or some other proceeding to correct the error. Some mistakes can be corrected by the Court of Appeal itself, without sending the case back.

If you or a loved one is reading this, it probably means that you feel like the system has failed, your belief in the justice system has failed and your criminal attorney has failed.

When you’re going through the criminal process, you feel like your innocence is going to be the key for the bailiff to release the shackles that now feel like just another accessory you wear.

The sad truth is that by the time you find out how the system really works, this nightmare that you thought you were going to wake up from is now the reality of your life. I always think the best way to go is to hire a knowledgeable criminal lawyer to represent you from the start. But I know that’s not always the case. If so, our appeal attorneys are not miracle workers, they’re not magicians, but most importantly they’re not incompetent. They are highly skilled  criminal defense attorneys that know what to look for, they know what steps were missed, they know the questions that should have been asked, what evidence was overlooked or not admitted, what the jury should have been told, and most importantly what your criminal attorney should have done in the first place.

For more information on appeals visit http://www.uscourts.gov/courtsofappeals.html.