Other Grounds For Appeal

Creative, Compelling Appellate Arguments

Examples of  well-known reasons for challenging a conviction, either through an appeal from the judgment of conviction or post-verdict/post-judgment motion,  are prosecutorial misconduct, introduction of improper evidence, refusal to introduce defense evidence, a judge’s erroneous instructions to the jury and newly discovered evidence of actual innocence. These are not the only grounds for challenging or appealing a case, however. There are as many reasons to appeal or challenge a conviction as there are errors by judges and prosecutors during your criminal case.

Mark M. Baker, Esq., is a New York City-based appellate attorney in private practice who identifies and creates compelling reasons for appealing grounds for appeal based on a range of wrongfully denied motions, improper rulings and prosecutor errors.

Constitutional, Evidentiary and Procedural Arguments

Appealable errors may occur due to many constitutional violations, evidentiary errors, procedural violations and other legal errors. For example, an appeal may be based on errors such as:

Improper jury instructionsIllegally obtained confessions, and illegal searches and seizuresImproperly admitted or excluded evidenceJuror misconduct, including improper communications between jurors and witnesses or counsel

There are many other reasons for appeal or collateral post-conviction/post-judgment challenge, including inadequate representation or ineffective assistance of counsel. Claims based on ineffective assistance of counsel are successful only in certain, rare circumstances because stringent standards, often based involving non-strategic based decisions,  must be met.

NEW YORK Criminal Appeals Lawyer

In order to directly appeal errors made during trial, your trial attorney must have preserved your right to appeal the error. Generally, your trial counsel must object to the judge’s decision or prosecutor’s behavior in a timely manner, as well as register an exception to a judge’s ruling or instruction.

If your appealable issue has been properly preserved by your trial attorney, and if you have the means to retain a private appellate or criminal appeals attorney, Mr. Baker will identify appealable issues and create creative and compelling arguments on your behalf. In addition to representing clients during appeals, post-conviction/post-judgment motions and federal habeas corpus, Mr. Baker provides assistance on these issues to legal counsel during pretrial and trial stages of a criminal case.

If you believe you have grounds for an appeal or other post-conviction/post-judgment collateral motion relief with respect to  your criminal conviction, contact Mr. Baker for more information.