Criminal & Civil Appeals

If you or a loved one have taken a criminal or civil case to trial, and were unhappy with the outcome, you may want to consider appealing the verdict and fighting your case at the next level.  An appeal can also be an effective method at getting your jail sentence or civil judgment reduced. Appellate work is detail oriented, and requires excellent writing skills as well as a passion for oral argument.  It can take a skilled attorney years to become familiar with the technical requirements of each appellate court in order to correctly "perfect" an appeal.   In addition, an experienced appellate attorney will know how to review your trial transcript and supporting documents to determine whether your attorney or the judge made an error during your trial.  While many attorneys may possess trial experience, most do not have experience handling appeals.   At the Law Office of Johnathan Cartelli, we take pride in our appellate work and have extensive experience filing appeals before the New York State Appellate Division and the Federal Court of Appeals. Some frequent reasons for appeal are: The Court's denial of a motion to suppress evidence (or refusal to admit proper evidence). Ineffective assistance of counsel. The Court's failure to exclude a biased juror. Prosecution based on an unconstitutional law.  The verdict is not supported by the weight of the evidence. The Judge or Prosecutor made prejudicial or inflammatory comments before the jury. The sentence is grossly disproportionate to the crime. Improper dismissal of a civil action in pre-trial motions. When must I file an appeal? In most cases a notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of a judgment (whether a criminal conviction or civil judgment). Your trial attorney is not required to file a notice of appeal on your behalf unless you specifically hire him/her to do so.  Therefore it is imperative that you retain appellate counsel as soon as possible. After a notice of appeal has been filed, your attorney will have 6 months to "perfect" or file your appeal for civil cases; 9 months for criminal cases.  While this may seem like a large amount of time, keep in mind it can often take months to obtain all of the necessary court documents as well as the transcripts that are required for your appeal. In certain circumstances, you may be able to file an appeal even if you have not filed a notice of claim within 30 days of the judgment.  For example, if new evidence is discovered or if there is a subsequent change to the law.  In these circumstances you may be able to file a post-conviction motion, known as a CPL 440 motion.  While this motion may not be an "appeal" per se, it can still result in overturning a criminal conviction or setting aside a sentence. To find out more about what options you may have for appealing a criminal or civil judgment, please Contact one of our experienced appellate attorneys today.