On a murder charge, How does the appeal turn out?

Question

My friend has a knowingly cause murder charge and has done 7 years and my have 7 more, He has a appeal coming I just wanted to know what will happen! and by the way my friend is not a killer he was defending a little child!!!! and in the heat of the moment things happened! Real hard story!

What happen if you don't win the appeal? Can you get another?

Answer 1

Remember, the appeal isn't another chance to argue the story. Since they don't hear all the witnesses all over again, the appeal court defers to the original court for questions like who was telling the truth. If the original judge thought A was lying and B was telling the truth, that decision stays.

What an appeal does is reconsider if things were included in the trial that should not have been, or things were left out. It also looks at questions of law - did the judge's instruction to the jury mislead them to the wrong verdict? When the judge ruled on something, did he make an error in law? (I.e., did he allow something he shouldn't have?) Was evidence omitted, or has new evidence come to light? Did the prosecutor withhold information that may have helped the defendant?

So the appeal lawyer lists a series of reasons why he thinks the court made mistakes. the appeal court will decide if those points are valid, and if so, whether it would have changed the outcome of the trial. If so, they can either overturn the verdict, or order a new trial.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Generally, you can't appeal the factual findings of the trial court...you are limited only to appealing the procedures used in the trial...that is, that the procedures used were unfair or violated your constitutional rights. Example, you can appeal a confession that was coerced because this violates your 5th amendment right not to incriminate yourself.