November 15, 2012
An appeal, penal code 1237, is when a defendant after conviction seeks his case to be reviewed by an appeals court or higher court.
Many criminal cases can result in bad rulings, unethical district attorneys, incompetent defense attorneys, or juries return improper verdicts resulting in convictions.
The appeals court does not retry the case or look at new evidence, but reviews the lower court’s proceedings, and findings to see about possible errors in the law that affected the rights of the defendant.
The defendant or his/her attorney must initiate an appeal by filing a “Notice of Appeal” within thirty days of sentencing if the conviction was for a misdemeanor or within sixty days of sentencing if the defendant was convicted of a felony