Federal Criminal Appeals After A Plea And Sentence
When to contact a Federal Criminal Appeals Lawyer: Not every Federal Criminal case will go to trial. Not every Federal Criminal case can be appealed. Knowing the difference is the job of the Federal Criminal Appeals Attorney. We are a boutique law firm that handles only Federal Criminal Appeals throughout the United States. We Are Federal Criminal Appeals.
The fact is that most Federal Criminal cases will end with a plea agreement. However, this does not mean that you are prevented from filing a Federal Criminal Appeal. In the most common plea and sentence in Federal Court, you will not be able to appeal the conviction, but you may be able to appeal the sentence.
Four Things To Know About Federal Criminal Appeals And Taking A Plea:
First, I said “in the most common cases” you won’t be able to appeal the conviction. There are always exceptions and you will need to speak to an experienced Federal Criminal Appeals Lawyer to determine whether an exception applies to your case. There have been numerous case where the conviction in a Federal Criminal case may be appealed for a variety of reasons. Some reasons are ineffective assistance of counsel, violations of Rule 11 by the trial judge, the plea may not been knowing and voluntary, the accused is suffering from mental illness, the accused is under the influence of medication. This is not an exhaustive list, but these are just a few examples of reasons why one might be able to appeal the conviction after a plea in a Federal Criminal case.
Ask Your Lawyer These Questions:
- What will my sentence be if I take a plea today?
- What important rights will I be giving up if I take a plea?
- If I have to pay restitution can I contest the amount the government wants me to pay? Can I get a Fatico hearing?
We Are Federal Criminal Appeals: Waiver Of The Right To Appeal
Second, in many criminal cases, as part of a plea agreement, an accused will sign away his/her rights to an appeal. This is a called a waiver of appeal, and it is does not always mean that you cannot appeal. There are specific limitations on every waiver of appeal, and, most importantly, there are some rights that are not waivable. This means that you have certain constitutional rights that you cannot waive, not even if you sign an agreement to waive them. Certain constitutional rights are considered too important and courts will not allow it. Some of these rights are found in the Constitutional Amendments, such as the right to effective assistance of counsel, others are statutory, such as the right to have a factual basis to a plea agreement. Whether Constitutional or statutory, you should know that the waiver of your right to appeal does not always mean that you can not appeal. To find out you need to speak to a Federal Criminal Appeals Lawyer.
We Are Federal Criminal Appeals: You Can Appeal Just The Sentence
Third, even if you don’t have a legal argument to vacate the conviction in a Federal Criminal case, you still may be able to appeal the sentence. There are a variety of reasons that you may be able to appeal your sentence in a Federal Criminal case. Generally, speaking your appeal in this type of case is subject to a plea agreement with the Government attorneys. In that agreement, there is usually a clause that states that the U.S. District Court Judge is the one who is solely responsible for the length of your sentence, and only he/she can make that decision. Additionally, the plea agreement may state that you will be prevented from appealing if the Judge sentences you within a certain agreed upon range in terms of months in prison.
We Are Federal Criminal Appeals: Get A Second Opinion Before Taking A Plea
Fourth, taking a plea to criminal charges in Federal Court is probably the most serious thing you’ll ever do. It is humiliating, humbling and life altering. Before you take one of the biggest steps you’ll ever take in your life, get a second opinion. Have an experiences Federal Criminal Appeals Lawyer look at your case and give you an opinion on whether you should go forward with this. Have someone who is experienced in Federal Criminal Law give you an opinion about the law and your case before you leap.
We Are Federal Criminal Appeals: An Appellate Attorney Can Find The Issues
These types of appeals can get fairly complicated because of the sometimes very narrow window through which to argue. Finding the legal issues that will bear the most fruit can oftentimes be a daunting task, the level of difficulty/hard/ should not be underestimated because the record is short or just a few hundred pages. These issues are most times more difficult to wrestle with than those that arise during trial. Finding the right legal arguments in a brief record where there is just a plea and sentence and a plea agreement means we have to dig deep, do extensive legal research, look through law review articles, legal encyclopedia, think outside the box, arrive with fresh perspective and a novel way of looking at the legal quandary.
We Are Federal Criminal Appeals: The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Are Extremely Complex
When considering whether to go forward with a Federal Criminal Appeal after a plea and sentence, the United States Sentencing Guidelines (U.S.S.G.) must be considered carefully. One of the most complex areas of the law is the application of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. The correct adjustment in the Guidelines by two, three or four points, can mean the difference of many more years in jail than you should be doing. The Guidelines are not just a simple numbers calculation, there is case law, constitutional law, Supreme Court law that will apply to your case. How will you know that the Guidelines calculation for your case is correct? Was your attorney’s or the Judge’s calculation correct? Were they off by one point, two points or more? The difference may mean years of your life in jail, or out of jail.
We are The Federal Criminal Appeals Law Firm
This office handles criminal appeals and only criminal appeals. We research and write on more criminal appeals issues in one year than most lawyers write in a lifetime. Experience in appellate courts, and especially in federal appeals courts, is essential to protecting your rights and crafting the best legal arguments for your Federal Criminal Appeal. We are admitted in Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal throughout the United States and in the United States Supreme Court. We know the essential issues to raise in a federal criminal appeals brief is not only important, it’s essential. Which legal arguments will work? Which legal arguments will not work in a given Circuit Court of Appeals? These are simple questions, but essential to creating and arguing a winning appeal. We are Federal Criminal Appeals and we know the answer to these questions.