Appeal Process

October 26, 2014 Appeal Process Paper When any defendant is found guilty, of any charge, is entitled to an appeal to at least one level of appellate court (Meyer, J Grant, D. 2003). An appeal is when a defendant has already been found guilty in court, and they decide to take it to a higher court in order to change the ruling (Meyer, J Grant, D. 2003). Basically it is a process that takes place, because the defendant and their attorney do not feel that the verdict given was accurate and that could be due to many different reasons. Appeals ensure that there was a fair trial given and no rights were violated (Meyer, J Grant, D. 2003). The appeal process begins very shortly after the trial, when the defense sends an appeal to the court. Appeals factor in to the overall criminal justice process, because in the end they can change laws or amendments. The Miranda rights are a great example of this. They came about after someone went back and challenged the court. It was then that the Miranda rights became part of the law and the criminal justice process. Just because a criminal goes to court and is decided guilty and is charged with whatever he/she was being charged with, does not mean that the process is over and he/she accepts the sentence and it is done. The defendant may decide something went wrong or he/she has a way of proving their innocence. Then they will submit an appeal and may ended up getting out of the original sentence given. This completely changes up the criminal procedures and processes. Based on my review of the appeal courts results in New Jersey, I think that the current appeals process is very effective. As per New Jersey Judiciary annual Report 2011- 2012 (n.d.), 6,461 appeals were received and 6,159 of those appeals have been decided. (Appellate Division of Superior Court). Mostly everyone appeal submitted to the New Jersey Appellate Courts has been resolved, therefore showing that the defendants are given a chance to have their case heard once