Fore & Pribble Criminal Defense Attorneys
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Fighting a Florida Conviction or Severe Sentence?
Protect Your Rights and Demand an Appeal Immediately.
In Florida, you have an absolute right to appeal. Overturning a lower court's decision demands a rigorous, approach to identify judicial bias, jury instruction mistakes, or critical evidence that was unlawfully admitted.
At Fore & Pribble, we painstakingly scrutinize trial transcripts, conduct exhaustive constitutional research, and craft compelling initial briefs to aggressively fight for a reversal or a new trial.
Fight for your future.
Contact Fore & Pribble 24/7 for a completely confidential case review.
What is a Criminal Appeal in Florida?
An “appeal” is when a defendant asks a higher court–called a District Court of Appeal in Florida–to review the court proceedings in the lower court that led to their conviction and sentence. The review of the case by the District Court of Appeal is designed to identify any errors that may have occurred in the lower court–called the trial court–that need to be addressed or corrected by the appeals court. Such errors might include one or more of the following:
Denial of any pretrial motions filed by the defense such as motions to suppress or exclude evidence and motions to dismiss; for example, did the judge allow the prosecutor to use evidence against you that they obtained by illegal government conduct?
Errors that occurred during the course of the trial such as the improper admission of evidence that should have been excluded by the court; for example, did the judge improperly allow the jury to hear irrelevant evidence, hearsay evidence, or other inadmissible evidence?
Errors caused by the judge improperly instructing the jury about the law; for example, did the judge make a mistake that caused the jury to apply the wrong laws to your case?
Errors caused by prosecutorial misconduct during the trial; for example, did the prosecutor use improper arguments in their closing argument to convince the jury to convict you?
Sentencing errors by the judge; for example, did the judge give you a harsher sentence based on inappropriate reasons like bias or prejudice or even just a misunderstanding of the law?
If the appeals court agrees that any of these errors occurred, then they can grant relief including potentially reversing the conviction and ordering that a new trial be held.
What is the Procedure for a Criminal Appeal in Florida?
If the appeals court affirms the conviction but believes the defendant received an illegal sentence, then a new sentencing could be ordered.
A defendant who wishes to appeal must file a notice of appeal within 30 days from the court’s final order Typically that would be 30 days after sentencing occurs.
When a case is appealed, a court reporter has to prepare transcripts of the jury trial and any other hearings that occurred in the trial court as well as put together copies of what is called “the record” which includes all motions, pleadings, and court orders filed in the case.
The job of the appeals lawyer is to carefully read through the transcripts and the record to identify legal issues and errors the trial court may have committed which could result in a reversal of the trial court's decision. The lawyer must carefully scrutinize this material and then do extensive legal research to prepare the best legal arguments possible.
Once the appeals lawyer has identified the legal issues of the case and conducted the necessary legal research, the lawyer writes what is called the “initial brief” which is the document that is sent to the appeals court. It contains the arguments designed to persuade the appeals court to reverse and overturn the trial court.
The prosecutor's side is represented on appeal by a lawyer from the Attorney General's Office who files a response (called an “answer brief”) to the defendant's initial brief, and then the defendant has a right to file a reply brief to the prosecutor's answer.
Once all of the briefs are filed, the two sides sometimes appear before the appeals court for an in-person hearing called “oral argument” where the lawyers for each side have a chance to make their arguments to the panel of appeals judges who will decide the appeal.
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