Appeals Process
Introduction to Criminal
Courts System
Jennifer Morris Instructor
Beverlyn Jackson Student

APPEALS PROCESS
Within our courts system each person that is brought before a judge or a jury has the right to make an appeal for any sentence that has been given and the defendant does not agree with. An appeal is a proceeding in which a case is brought before a higher court after receiving a sentence from a lower court. This is done with the hope of showing the higher court the decision made in the lower court was wrong and should be overturn. Appealing a court decision is the right of each individual but lower court decision are upheld by the higher court and they will usually not hear and re rule on a decision a lower court has made. In order for a defendant to make the claim for an appeal they must show that the law in the original case was misapplied this could have be done substantively or procedurally. In making an appeal it has to done on the facts of the case and not on the basis that the evidence in the original case was insufficient to support an acquittal. The appeals process factor into our justice system though the helping of people who are later found innocence by new evidence being presented during the course of the appeal. The process also provides judicial oversight of the trail proceeding, it also provides precedent on any new areas of the law that will help guide lower courts into better decision making in many cases. With the appeals process and fewer cases being heard in the lower courts and even fewer case being appeal to a higher court this has an impact on the justice system as a whole. The rulings of the appellate court does shape both the substance and procedure of the criminal justice process. By this taking place it shows the complexity of the court system. In a criminal case both the prosecution and the defense can appeal a