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APPEALS PROCESS
KENNETH SPAULDING
CJS/220
UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX
MAY 7 2015

APPEALS PROCESS
An appeal is a right you usually have after a final decision of a court or government agency. If you don’t agree with the decision of the court or agency, you can have the decision reviewed by a higher court or agency, and sometimes a court can review an agency’s decision. Almost all appeals have to be filed in writing. All appeals have to be filed within a certain time, called the appeal period. Sometimes you have to post an appeal bond, of cash or property, within a certain time, to appeal from a lower court to a higher court.
A typical appeal in a criminal case is from a conviction following a trial. The defendant will allege to the appellate court that one or more errors occurred in the trial or the process leading up to trial that rendered the trial fundamentally unfair or unconstitutional. The appellate courts determine whether searches and seizures, interrogation practices, and trial procedures are constitutional or not. Thus, the appellate decisions directly affect future conduct by police, prosecutors, and trial judges. Many people complain that defendant are procedurally precluded from raising certain issues on appeal because their lawyer did not object at trial or their appellate attorney did not raise the issue on the initial appeal, and that these procedural bars result in the continued incarceration of people who did not receive a fair trial and possibly even the innocent. The quandary is maintaining some finality in judgments without forever turning a blind eye to those who may have been wrongfully convicted.
From the moment you open a medical records request to the closing of the ALJ hearing, there are steps you can take to increase the odds of your appeal being successful. The very first thing you can do is train whoever opens the mail to both

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