What is the process for appealing a conviction under Georgia criminal defense law?
Appealing a criminal conviction in Georgia is a process for asking a higher court to review a trial court’s proceedings for legal error, and it follows specific procedures and deadlines. An appeal is not a new trial but a review of whether errors affected the outcome.
The process often begins at the trial court level. A motion for new trial may be filed with the trial court, asking it to reconsider the verdict on specified grounds, and this motion can address issues before an appeal proceeds to a higher court. The timing of post-trial filings is governed by strict deadlines.
Beyond that, the appeal itself goes to an appellate court. Depending on the nature of the case, review is conducted by the Court of Appeals of Georgia or the Supreme Court of Georgia. The appellate court examines the trial record and the legal arguments raised, rather than hearing new evidence or retrying the facts.
The grounds for appeal focus on legal error. An appeal generally argues that something went wrong as a matter of law, such as an erroneous ruling on evidence, an incorrect jury instruction, or another error that may have affected the result. Issues are typically preserved by raising them at trial.
An appeal turns on identifying legal errors in the record rather than rearguing the facts to a new jury. An appeal rewards careful trial work as much as careful appellate work, since the errors a higher court will consider are largely the ones a lawyer thought to raise and preserve below.