Appeals Process Paper
Appeals Process Paper
Matthew Harper
CJS/220
Harvey Smith
June 23, 2012
Appeals Process Paper When any defendant is found guilty, of any charge, is entitled to an appeal to at least one level of appellate court (Meyer & Grant, 2003). An appeal is when a defendant has already been found guilty in court, and they decide to take it to a higher court in order to change the ruling (Meyer & Grant, 2003). Basically it is a process that takes place, because the defendant and their attorney do not feel that the verdict given was accurate; and that could be due to many different reasons. Appeals ensure that there was a fair trial given and no rights were violated (Meyer & Grant, 2003). The appeal process begins very shortly after the trial, when the defense sends an appeal to the court. Appeals factor in to the overall criminal justice process, because in the end they can change laws or amendments. The Miranda rights are a great example of this. They came about after someone went back and challenged the court. It was then that the Miranda rights became part of the law and the criminal justice process. Just because a criminal goes to court and is decided guilty and is charged with whatever he/she was being charged with, does not mean that the process is over and he/she accepts the sentence and it is done. The defendant may decide something went wrong or he/she has a way of proving their innocence. Then they will submit an appeal and may end up getting out of the original sentence given. This completely changes up the criminal procedures and processes. Nothing is perfect, and our appeals system could always use improvement. The appeals system is widely recognized for its high quality service. However, I do not really feel that the current system is completely equipped to handle all of the appeals that are coming in. The number of appeals has increased tremendously over the past 10 years. If the system is not changed up a little bit then we will end
Matthew Harper
CJS/220
Harvey Smith
June 23, 2012
Appeals Process Paper When any defendant is found guilty, of any charge, is entitled to an appeal to at least one level of appellate court (Meyer & Grant, 2003). An appeal is when a defendant has already been found guilty in court, and they decide to take it to a higher court in order to change the ruling (Meyer & Grant, 2003). Basically it is a process that takes place, because the defendant and their attorney do not feel that the verdict given was accurate; and that could be due to many different reasons. Appeals ensure that there was a fair trial given and no rights were violated (Meyer & Grant, 2003). The appeal process begins very shortly after the trial, when the defense sends an appeal to the court. Appeals factor in to the overall criminal justice process, because in the end they can change laws or amendments. The Miranda rights are a great example of this. They came about after someone went back and challenged the court. It was then that the Miranda rights became part of the law and the criminal justice process. Just because a criminal goes to court and is decided guilty and is charged with whatever he/she was being charged with, does not mean that the process is over and he/she accepts the sentence and it is done. The defendant may decide something went wrong or he/she has a way of proving their innocence. Then they will submit an appeal and may end up getting out of the original sentence given. This completely changes up the criminal procedures and processes. Nothing is perfect, and our appeals system could always use improvement. The appeals system is widely recognized for its high quality service. However, I do not really feel that the current system is completely equipped to handle all of the appeals that are coming in. The number of appeals has increased tremendously over the past 10 years. If the system is not changed up a little bit then we will end