Texas Criminal Appeals Lawyers
If you were convicted in state court in Texas, you may be able to get relief from your conviction or sentence through an appeal. It will benefit you to work with a criminal defense lawyer who focuses on appeals, which are different from the trial level in many ways.
Meeting deadlines in appellate cases is also crucial. So, don’t wait to discuss your case with a Texas criminal appeals lawyer.
Reach out to Broden & Mickelsen, LLP today. We can bring several decades of experience with handling criminal appeals in the Texas court system to your case, as well as extensive experience with federal appeals. We can review your case in a free consultation and discuss how we can seek relief for you on appeal or other post-conviction options, such as a habeas petition.
What Issues Can Lead to a Successful Criminal Appeal in Texas?
In a criminal appeal in Texas, your appeals attorney will look for legal errors that occurred in your case at the trial level. Generally, an error raised on appeal must be one that affected your trial in some way. It could also be a sentencing error that led to you getting a more severe sentence than you deserve under the law.
Some of the most common issues in criminal cases that we see in appeals at Broden & Mickelsen, LLP involve:
- Denial of a pre-trial motion like a motion to suppress evidence that was obtained in violation of your state or federal constitutional rights
- Allowing evidence or excluding evidence during trial contrary to law (However, your appellate lawyer will need to see if your trial lawyer objected or took other steps to “preserve” the issue for appeal because a higher court won’t review an issue that a lower court didn’t have a chance to correct.)
- Giving the jury instructions that the law and facts don’t support
- Making a mistake in sentencing that results in a higher sentence
- Lack of jurisdiction, or the lack of authority for the court to rule in your case (in many cases, this occurs due to indictment issues)
These are just a few examples of the countless different errors that can occur over the course of a criminal case that can affect the outcome. At Broden & Mickelsen, LLP, we thoroughly examine cases and explore all possible routes to relief for our clients when searching for issues to raise on appeal.
Direct Appeal vs. Writ of Habeas Corpus in Texas
A direct appeal addresses legal errors at trial or sentencing. No new evidence is considered.
A writ of habeas corpus is different. New evidence can be offered. If you are convicted in a Texas state court, you must exhaust all means of appeal before applying for a writ of habeas corpus. That means your appeal would need to go through one of the 14 Courts of Appeals and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals before you could file a habeas petition.
Because filing a writ of habeas corpus is complicated and varies depending on the court system, hiring an experienced habeas corpus attorney is usually recommended.