Georgia Criminal Appeal Lawyer

Our Georgia criminal appeal lawyers have extensive experience in helping people win their appeals in the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court. In the video on this page, attorney Jess Johnson describes Georgia's criminal appeal process and how a Georgia appeal attorney can help you reverse an unjustified conviction or sentence in the state of Georgia. 

When can I appeal my felony conviction?

You can file a direct appeal of your conviction and sentence after a bench trial or a jury trial.  If you entered a guilty plea in your criminal case, you may be able to directly appeal your conviction, but it is more likely that will need  to file a petition or application for habeas corpus instead (which is a civil proceeding).

Who hears my appeal?

There are two appellate courts in Georgia: the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court. Most felony cases which are appealed will end up in the Court of Appeals. The Georgia Supreme Court, however, has jurisdiction over capitol offenses, such as murder cases. 

The Court of Appeals has 15 judges, but only three judges (called a panel) will initially hear a case. If the panel rules against, you can ask the panel to reconsider its ruling. In some cases, the entire court will agree to hear your case; however, the odds of obtaining a full review are rare. The Supreme Court of Georgia has nine judges, and these nine judges hear every case that come before the Court.

What information do appellate courts consider in deciding my appeal?

The Georgia Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Georgia only consider the record that is sent to them by the superior court clerk. This record consists of evidence, transcripts, and pleadings from the trial court. In other words, if you want the appellate court to consider some piece of information, it needs to be in the trial court record.

What are my chances of winning an appeal in Georgia?

You can view our firm's page here about the likelihood of an appellate winning their case on appeal. It should be noted that every case is different, and the quality of your legal representation can drastically imact the outcome on appeal.

Are direct appeals automatic?

No, an appeal of your conviction does not automatically happen following your conviction and sentence. There is an exception in cases where a sentence of death has been imposed (but this is very few cases). To preserve your right to a direct appeal, you will need to file a specific type of pleading, such as a Notice of Appeal or a Motion for New Trial, within 30 days of being sentenced. If you fail to timely file one of these pleadings, you will likely waive your right to appeal your case to the Georgia Court of Appeals or the Georgia Supreme Court.

How do I file an appeal?

You will need to file a Notice of Appeal of your conviction, sentence, or the order you wish to appeal. The Notice of Appeal is filed with the clerk of court for the superior court. Importantly, before you file a Notice of Appeal, you will likely want to file a Motion for New Trial if you were convicted during a trial. 

What is a Motion for New Trial?

A motion for new trial is a pleading that asks the trial court judge to grant you a new trial because of one or more errors that occurred before or during trial. A motion for new trial must be filed within 30 days of your sentence.

Filing a Motion for New Trial is often preferable to initially filing a Notice of Appeal. If you file a Notice of Appeal, your case will go directly to the Georgia Court of Appeals or the Georgia Supreme Court. When you file a Motion for New Trial, however, your case will stay with the trial court judge, and you will be allowed to present additional evidence as to why you should get a new trial. If the Motion for New Trial fails, you can then appeal the case to an appellate court. In other words, a Motion for New Trial often increases your chances of getting a new trial.

The initial motion for new trial is usually bare-bones and only alleges that general errors occurred (such as the weight of the evidence did not support a conviction). If you hired an appellate lawyer following your sentence and conviction, your lawyer will begin an investigation into the case. He or she will review all of the transcripts and evidence and talk to witnesses in effort to determine if you received a fair trial. During this review, your lawyer will be looking for three different types of errors:

1. Trial Court errors. A trial court error is an error committed by the judge. Examples include when the judge allows inadmissible evidence to be introduced over the objection of your trial counsel or gives an improper jury instruction over your trial counsel's objection. 

2. Prosecution errors. A prosecution error is an error committed by the State while prosecuting your case. For instance, the State is required to turn over favorable evidence to the defense prior to trial. If the State fails to do so, your appellate lawyer can raise this error as a Brady violation in the Motion for New Trial. 

3. Trial Counsel error.  This third type of error is usually the primary reason for filing a Motion for New Trial instead of a Notice of Appeal. A Trial Counsel error is called ineffective assistance of counsel and occurs when your lawyer did something he should not have done, or in the alternative, didn't do something that he should have done. An example of ineffective assistance could be where you lawyer fails to object to damaging hearsay testimony. 

To raise ineffective assistance, your lawyer will likely have to testify under oath as to why he did or didn't do something. By filing a Motion for New Trial, the trial judge will hold an evidentiary hearing, which will give you the opportunity to question your trial lawyer under oath as to why he did or didn't do something. You won't get this opportunity if you only file a Notice of Appeal. In other words, if you want to bring an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, you usually have to file a Motion for New Trial or you will waive your right to bring such a claim. 

One thing to note: if your appellate lawyer is the same person as your trial lawyer, you will not be able to bring an ineffective assistance claim (a lawyer cannot argue that he or she was ineffective). This is why it is important to hire a different lawyer to handle your appeal following your conviction and sentence. If you stick with the same lawyer, you could be missing out on your best chance to get a new trial.

What if the Motion for New Trial is denied?

If the trial judge denies your Motion for New Trial, you will need to file a Notice of Appeal within 30 days of the order denying the Motion for New Trial. If you fail to do so, you will waive your right to appeal your case to an appellate court.

What happens after the Notice of Appeal is filed?

The clerk for the superior court will prepare the record in your case (transcripts, pleadings, and evidence) and send the record to the appellate court. The appellate court will then issue a briefing notice directing your lawyer and the State to file their briefs by a certain date.

One note: it is incredibly important for your lawyer to examine the record prior to filing your brief. It is not uncommon for the record to be missing transcripts or pieces of evidence that the clerk missed. If you don't catch this in time, you could waive your right to argue an issue on appeal. 

What is oral argument?

Your lawyer will likely request oral argument. In the Court of Appeals, oral argument occurs before the three-judge panel assigned to your case, during which your lawyer will highlight the major issues raised in your appeal and answer questions posed by the three judges.

How will I know if the outcome of the appeal?

The appellate court will issue an opinion and alert your lawyer via email that an opinion has been issued. The opinion will set forth the errors that you raised, the facts of the case, and an explanation for why it agrees or disagrees with you for each error that you raised.

What if the Court of Appeals rules against me?

You can ask the Court to reconsider its decision. This is proper where the court got the facts of your case wrong or missed some important facts. It is also proper to ask for reconsideration where the Court misinterpreted controlling case law or neglected to consider controlling case law. 

If the Court of Appeals denies your request to reconsider its decision, you will need to file a notice with the Court of Appeals that you intend to petition the Supreme Court of Georgia for a writ of certiorari within 10 days, and within 20 days, you will need to file the petition in the Supreme Court of Georgia. The petition should explain why the Supreme Court's intervention is necessary. If the petition is granted, the Supreme Court will direct the parties to file briefs on the specific issues that it wants to hear.  The Supreme Court will also hear oral argument in cases that have been granted cert.

Once the issues have been briefed and oral argument has been conducted, the Supreme Court of Georgia will issue its opinion. As in the Court of Appeals, parties can ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling. If the Court affirms your conviction, you can attempt to appeal your case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

If you or someone you know has been convicted and sentenced in Georgia, our Georgia criminal appellate lawyers can assist in appealing the case. We have been handling Georgia appellate cases for years, and we have numerous victories in both the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court.