Kissimmee

Kissimmee

Kissimmee Florida Appeals Lawyers

Are you looking for an appellate attorney in Kissimmee Florida? Brownstone Law will help you appeal a court verdict that you feel was handed down to you unfairly to avoid unjust punishment. It is quite unfortunate that many people in the US are convicted for crimes they did not commit. This is due to corruption, an error on the part of the prosecution or judge and many other reasons. According to an article that was published on March 14, 2018, by Florida Tribune (a daily newspaper based in Florida), the rate of wrongful convictions in the US was estimated to be between 2 percent and 10 percent as of last year. Return to our main Florida appellate lawyer page.

Contact our appeals lawyers in Kissimmee Florida to discuss your case (888) 233-8895.

Additionally, going by an article that was published on the same date by the Prison Policy Initiative(a non-profit organization that focuses on matters related to criminal justice matters in America), more than 2.3 million individuals were locked up in US prisons as of 2018.

If you do the math, you would be shocked to learn that between 46,000 and 230,000 innocent individuals in the United States were in jail as of last year. This is shocking and disheartening, to say the least. But the good news is that there is always a second chance with a court of appeals.

Criminal Appeal Lawyers in Kissimmee Florida?

Before proceeding further, it is important to note that a Kissimmee appeals court cannot admit additional evidence and facts to determine whether you were wrongfully convicted. In most cases, the court will stick to the evidence and facts used by the lower court in your case.  We also handle criminal appeals in federal appellate courts.

The Purpose of this Court is not to Retry your Case, but to Determine whether:

  • There was an improper admission or rejection of evidence.
  • There was a lack of sufficient evidence to support the verdict.
  • The jury was issued with incorrect instructions or it acted in a dishonest way.
  • It was a sentencing error.
  • It was a false arrest in the first place.
  • The prosecution acted in a dishonest manner.

Many clients of Kissimmee appeals attorneys often mistake a conviction appeal for a retrial, only to learn that new evidence and facts are not admissible. Now that you understand the purpose of an appeals court, let us look at the grounds for seeking a conviction appeal, in depth.

  1. Improper Admission or Rejection of Evidence

This is a very complex matter in law, but I will try to break it down the best way I can to help you understand it easily. This refers to when the judge admits evidence of irrelevant facts or rejects the evidence of relevant facts to influence an unjust ruling, for one reason or another. For example, maybe he/she has some personal vendetta with you or has been compromised or the judge just does not know how to do his/her job well.

  1. Incorrect Jury Instructions

Jury instructions are simply directions issued by the judge to the jury with respect to the applicable law specific to the current case. These instructions serve as a guide to help jury members in understanding the factual as well as legal issues before reaching a verdict. Jury instructions are considered incorrect if they do not properly address the factual and legal issues applicable to the case or if they cannot be understood by jury members.

  1. Lack of Sufficient Evidence to Support a Guilty Finding

The appellate court may overrule the verdict of the lower court if it reviews the evidence and facts of the case and determines that they are not sufficient to support the guilty finding. Many defendants have had their guilty verdicts overruled by a court of appeal on this ground alone

  1. Sentencing Errors

While every criminal act has its punishment stipulated by the law, it is not uncommon that some judges may err in handing down a sentence. For example, the maximum penalty for simple assault in Florida is 60 days in jail or 6 months probation and a fine of up to $500. Despite that, a judge may hand a higher sentence than what is stipulated by the law. In that case, the defendant can move to the court of appeals and have the sentence reduced in accordance with the law.

 

appeal lawyers in Kissimmee

  1. False Arrest

According to a story published by the New York Times in October 2018, three police officers in Florida were sent to prison in the same year for false arrests. This type of arrests made without a probable cause or a warrant has been rampant in the state for some time with the majority of the victims being people of certain demographics.

If you have been arrested without a probable cause and supposedly found to be guilty by a local court, you can have that verdict overturned by a court of appeal.

  1. Juror Misconduct

When a member of the jury violates the law of the court while a court case is in progress, we call that juror misconduct. Juror misconduct can take many different forms, including communication by the juror with the judge, attorneys, witnesses, and bailiffs in that case. Another form of misconduct is when a jury member brings external evidence that he/she may have found through his/her own means and has not been approved, allowing it to influence his/her judgment.

Juror misconduct can be another good ground for appeal. If confident about juror misconduct, you can make a motion asking the judge to enter a verdict of not guilty.

  1. Prosecutor Misconduct

Prosecutor misconduct can be defined as an illegal act or failing to act, on the part of a prosecutor, normally in an effort to sway the jury to unjustly convict a defendant. This is a common ground on which many defendants have received a not guilty verdict in an appeals court, despite having been convicted by a lower court.

Appellate Lawyer Kissimmee Florida  

The guilty sentence handed down to you by a lower court should not seal your fate. As the best of all Kissimmee criminal appeal lawyers, we can save you from going to prison by moving your case to an appellate court. And the grounds we can use to turn the verdict around are more than enough.

Simply reach out to us and let us evaluate your case to see if the verdict, which has been handed down to you by a local court has great chances of being overturned by the appellate court. Without nothing more to add, we look forward to hearing from you.

(888) 233-8895
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Have a question about an appeal, or want to discuss an appellate case?

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