Post by SatiyaH on Jan 25, 2004 11:24:20 GMT -5
The appeals process:
It is pretty much standard to appeal a conviction.
An appeal is basically a review of the trial to determine whether it was fair. Generally, the court reviews the actions of the trial judge. That means they review any rulings made either before or during trial to determine they were correct. The court does not review the jury verdict to determine whether it thinks it is correct.
It is important to realize that the court assumes the jury resolved any conflicts in the evidence in favor of the state. This means that they will not determine for themselves whether certain witnesses were truthful. If your claim is based on proving the witnesses lied, you are generally not going to be successful.
Since the court reviews what the trial court did, they generally are limited to reviewing trial court rulings. This means that if there was some error which was not objected to, there is nothing to review. The court also is limited to the written record of the trial. New evidence cannot be admitted during the appeal.
A Court of Appeals can either reverse and remand a case, or reverse and enter a judgment of acquittal. (Almost never ever happens) Normally cases are remanded, which means you go back to the trial court for another trial. If the court finds there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction, they can enter a judgment of acquittal, which is the same as if the jury found you not guilty. Almost any trial has some type of error in it. However, merely finding error does not mean the case will be reversed. It is so very rare to be acquitted during the appeal process, which in some folks cases takes as long as their sentence. The courts do not have to grant your appeal request.
If your sentence is less than ten years, you may be eligible for a bond. If it is more than ten years you cannot be released on bond. --That is because in many cases, the process alone takes 10 years!
On top of all of this, now the man WANTS to go to State court. His own attorney said York will withdraw his guilty plea and head to state court. Does he expect anything different? It will be. This time around, there are over 200 counts against him. The jury will deliberate on each and every count. Does he seriously think they won't come together on at least "some" of them? They don't have to vote unanimously guilty on ALL counts, just some of them. They can vote not-guilty on some. As long as whatever count they are on, they can be unanimous with it.
He can keep his plea in, and his sentence runs concurrent with the Federal. He will serve time in Federal prison, while the time is ticking away on the state sentence. If he goes to trial, he risks the sentence running consecutive. If found guilty on just a few of the counts, he will be transported to State prison after his Federal time is up. Why do that? My only thought is that he truly has been convinced that he will when his appeal. His attorney is feeding him this--who will pay for defense of this state trial? More fundraisings--bowl-a-thons, skate-a-thons, more thousand dollar bricks for sell? It's a horrible shame that after all of this--he still finds ways to take your money.
It is pretty much standard to appeal a conviction.
An appeal is basically a review of the trial to determine whether it was fair. Generally, the court reviews the actions of the trial judge. That means they review any rulings made either before or during trial to determine they were correct. The court does not review the jury verdict to determine whether it thinks it is correct.
It is important to realize that the court assumes the jury resolved any conflicts in the evidence in favor of the state. This means that they will not determine for themselves whether certain witnesses were truthful. If your claim is based on proving the witnesses lied, you are generally not going to be successful.
Since the court reviews what the trial court did, they generally are limited to reviewing trial court rulings. This means that if there was some error which was not objected to, there is nothing to review. The court also is limited to the written record of the trial. New evidence cannot be admitted during the appeal.
A Court of Appeals can either reverse and remand a case, or reverse and enter a judgment of acquittal. (Almost never ever happens) Normally cases are remanded, which means you go back to the trial court for another trial. If the court finds there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction, they can enter a judgment of acquittal, which is the same as if the jury found you not guilty. Almost any trial has some type of error in it. However, merely finding error does not mean the case will be reversed. It is so very rare to be acquitted during the appeal process, which in some folks cases takes as long as their sentence. The courts do not have to grant your appeal request.
If your sentence is less than ten years, you may be eligible for a bond. If it is more than ten years you cannot be released on bond. --That is because in many cases, the process alone takes 10 years!
On top of all of this, now the man WANTS to go to State court. His own attorney said York will withdraw his guilty plea and head to state court. Does he expect anything different? It will be. This time around, there are over 200 counts against him. The jury will deliberate on each and every count. Does he seriously think they won't come together on at least "some" of them? They don't have to vote unanimously guilty on ALL counts, just some of them. They can vote not-guilty on some. As long as whatever count they are on, they can be unanimous with it.
He can keep his plea in, and his sentence runs concurrent with the Federal. He will serve time in Federal prison, while the time is ticking away on the state sentence. If he goes to trial, he risks the sentence running consecutive. If found guilty on just a few of the counts, he will be transported to State prison after his Federal time is up. Why do that? My only thought is that he truly has been convinced that he will when his appeal. His attorney is feeding him this--who will pay for defense of this state trial? More fundraisings--bowl-a-thons, skate-a-thons, more thousand dollar bricks for sell? It's a horrible shame that after all of this--he still finds ways to take your money.
