If a lower court in Georgia has convicted you of a crime, you are still not out of options for proving your innocence or lowering the degree of the alleged crime; you can begin appealing to a higher court. The number of appeals that you can file depends on the number of superior courts above the court that tried you. Typically, bigger states will have more courts that you can go through while smaller ones may have one or two. Read on for additional information on filing for an appeal and how many chances you really have to reverse a judgment.
Filing your appeal
Your first step toward filing an appeal begins with the “notice of appeal” followed by the appellate brief. These are two simple steps but ones that you need to be extremely accurate in taking.
Filing a notice of appeal simply means that you are informing the courts that you do not agree with the ruling and thus are appealing. The appellate brief is a document written by your attorney stating why exactly their final judgment was wrong.
How many courts in Georgia?
Understandably, you may be wondering how many courts are within the state of Georgia. Let’s say that you were convicted in the lower courts and are now wanting to appeal. Your criminal law attorney is likely to file for an appeal with the Court of Appeals of Georgia. If that appeal is unsuccessful, then your next appeal should be to the Supreme Court of Georgia, which is the final chance you have at turning your conviction around.
Although you have the right to appeal, it is never something you should do on your own. Always have an attorney present as accuracy is extremely important. Failure to properly file your appeal may lead to disqualification of your right to appeal.