Criminal Appeals Attorney in Nashville

Common grounds for an appeal

There are several grounds for appeal. It’s important to discuss your case with an attorney who can review everything to find potential errors that might give you a way to fight back. Here are some of the possible reasons you could appeal a trial court’s ruling:

Confusing or improper jury instructions

If the jury receives instructions that are incorrect, incomplete, or misleading, this can impact their decision. For instance, imagine the instructions left out an element of a crime, such as intent to cause harm. The jury came back with a guilty verdict even though there wasn’t much evidence of intent. In this case, it might be possible to show that the jury’s decision is at least in part the result of the incomplete instructions.

Ineffective assistance of counsel

If your lawyer didn’t provide a competent defense, you might have grounds to appeal. One example of this might be if there was a key witness who could provide an alibi, but the attorney forgot to call them to provide evidence in the case.

Improper admission of evidence

If a judge admits evidence that should have been excluded, there may be grounds to appeal the verdict. For example, if the police carried out an illegal search and seizure, but the judge allowed that evidence in, you might have a reason to appeal.

Insufficient evidence

Juries are only meant to convict when there is enough evidence to meet the standards of the very high burden of proof in criminal cases. Unfortunately, jurors sometimes have biases or other factors that may cloud their judgment, leading to a guilty verdict when the evidence is not enough to support that finding.

Incorrect application of the law

Although uncommon, a court may misinterpret or misapply the law. In such cases, this would be grounds for an appeal. However, the appeal will only be likely to succeed if the error may have changed the outcome of the trial.

Jury misconduct

Improper actions by the jury can lead to wrongful outcomes. For instance, if a juror researched the case before making their decision and introduced information to other jurors that was from a news source that wasn’t evidence in the trial, this could impact the jurors’ decisions.

Prosecutorial misconduct

Prosecutors have to abide by rules during the trial as well. If the court rules some evidence is inadmissible, they can’t then reference it in front of the jury. Also, if the prosecutor has evidence that works against their case, they can’t withhold that information. These wrongful acts could be grounds for an appeal.