Criminal Appeal Lawyer in Las Vegas, Nevada

criminal appealsCriminal appeals take place after a jury has found a defendant guilty of one or more crimes.

Appeals are a complex legal process that can take years and involve complex legal arguments. An experienced Las Vegas criminal appeals lawyer is the best person to work on a criminal appeal that may overturn the jury’s verdict or reduce the sentence imposed by the trial judge.

Contact LV Criminal Defense if you have been convicted of a crime at a criminal trial in Nevada to discuss your options of post conviction relief and chances of success.

What is a criminal appeal?

A criminal appeal asks a higher court to review the trial court’s decisions and handling of your criminal case. The appeal may ask the higher court questions like these:

  • Whether the trial judge violated certain protocols meant to protect your constitutional rights;
  • Whether the jury was selected in a non-discriminatory way;
  • Whether certain evidence that should have been thrown out was actually used at trial.

These are legal issues for a higher court to review; usually, higher courts do not make their own judgments about the facts of your case. You can think of a criminal appeal as a way to make sure that the criminal process was fair and that you were given the benefit of all of your constitutional rights.

If a higher court decides that the trial court acted unfairly or violated any of your rights, the higher court may order a new trial. In some cases, the claims against you may be dismissed altogether, for example, if the verdict is based on illegally obtained evidence. The higher court may also reduce the sentence if it decides the original sentence was too harsh.

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Nick Wooldridge has a long track record of representing clients accused of serious federal and state crimes in Nevada.

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How do criminal appeals work in Nevada?

It is important to know that a criminal appeal is not the only way to change the outcome of your trial in Nevada. There are other methods of post-conviction relief that can happen first.

Notice of a criminal appeal must be given very shortly after a guilty verdict, only ten days after in fact. After that, the court will prepare transcripts of the trial for your attorney to review. These transcripts will contain evidence of wrongdoing or mistakes in the trial court that will be used to ask the appellate court (the higher court) for relief. This can be a lengthy process, a minimum of 4 months.

At LV Criminal Defense, your attorney will submit a written legal argument to the court, and may be asked to argue in front of the court on our behalf. Sometime later, the appellate court will provide its opinion with directions to the trial court.

Other reasons for criminal appeals in Nevada

Some of the problems that occur in trial court that can be cause for appeal are listed above. There are many other reasons to appeal, including:

  • Improper application of a criminal law against you;
  • Misdeeds by the prosecutor (it may surprise you to learn that prosecutors have an obligation to make sure you have every opportunity to make a strong defense, including by turning over evidence which can help your case);
  • Incorrect or confusing jury instructions;
  • A guilty verdict even when the evidence does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you are guilty.

More information

The information on this page is a very brief overview of the criminal appeals process in Nevada. It is very important to understand that the right to appeal is very limited and must be done correctly the first time.

What Our Client are saying

When I initially met with Mr. Wooldridge, he took the opportunity to sit and go over my problem with me. He described details in my case which he found disturbing and explained why he I should have him on my side.

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Few attorneys have the skills and experience of Nicholas Wooldridge to handle this type of legal process, even if they are very skilled criminal defense attorneys.

You need a Las Vegas criminal defense lawyer with special experience in criminal appeals if you have been convicted of a Nevada crime. Contact LV Criminal Defense as soon as possible to appeal your verdict because the window of time for an appeal is very short.