Contact an Experienced Riverside Appeal Attorney at Wallin & Klarich
Do not give up hope. If you’ve been convicted of a crime in Riverside County, your legal battle does not have to end. You can continue your legal fight by exercising your right to appeal your conviction. A successful appeal would lead to your conviction being overturned and a new trial or the charges against you being dropped. If you wish to appeal your conviction successfully, you should seek the help of an experienced Riverside appeal attorney.
Our skilled and knowledgeable appeal lawyers at Wallin & Klarich have been successfully representing clients in appeal matters in Riverside County courts for more than 40+ years. Let us help you now. We can review the facts of your case and determine if you have grounds for appeal.
Contact our Riverside appeal attorneys today at (877) 466-5245 for a free phone consultation regarding your case.
Why You Should Choose the Riverside Appeal Attorneys at Wallin & Klarich
For more than 40+ years, our law firm has been successfully representing clients for appeal matters in Riverside County. Our track record of success in appeals cases has helped us earn a number of awards and achievements, including a 5 out of 5 AV rating on Lawyers.com, a 10 out of 10 rating on AVVO.com, and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Our law firm takes great pride in representing our clients with professionalism and respect. View these testimonials from real clients who hired our Riverside appellate lawyers to find out more about how we approach each case:
“When I was convicted of a crime in Riverside, I was devastated. Then a family member told me he called Wallin & Klarich and discussed filing an appeal. After talking to the lawyer myself, I knew I wanted to hire Wallin & Klarich right away to handle my case. The process was not easy but I felt very comfortable that my appeal attorney had my back. A mistake they found that was made during the court process in the criminal case led to the conviction being overturned. I’m so happy that my family member called Wallin & Klarich.”
-S.M.
“I would like to thank Wallin & Klarich for what they did for me. My appellate lawyer at Wallin & Klarich reviewed the facts of the case and was able to get my sentence overturned. I didn’t even know you could appeal a sentence until I found Wallin & Klarich. If anyone you know is in legal trouble, I recommend you send them to Wallin & Klarich.”
-D.M.
“The law firm of Wallin & Klarich came highly recommended to me by a family friend after I was convicted in Riverside. I see now why he would recommend this law firm. They were amazing and they kept me informed throughout the entire process. I really felt that they cared about me. Best of all, I got an amazing result with my appeal. Thank you, Wallin & Klarich!”
-A.C.
What Does It Mean to Appeal a Conviction or Sentence in Riverside County? (1237 PC)
An appeal is a second chance to obtain justice. Under California Penal Code 1237, you can appeal your sentence if you believe an error or mistake was made in convicting you or determining your sentence.
When you appeal your conviction or sentence in Riverside County, you are asking a higher court, such as the California Supreme Court, to hear your legal argument that mistakes or legal errors were made during the criminal process in the lower courts that impacted your ability to receive a fair legal outcome.
Appeals are heard by a panel of judges. The panel will hear the legal arguments your appellate attorney presents on your behalf and review the case before determining if errors were made. If the panel of judges believes that legal errors were made during the criminal court process, the panel can decide to reverse your conviction.
You only have 30 days to file an appeal if you were convicted of a misdemeanor or 60 days if you were convicted of a felony offense. That is why you should contact our experienced Riverside appeal attorneys at Wallin & Klarich immediately if you are considering appealing your conviction or sentence. Our skilled Riverside appellate lawyers will discuss your options with you and help you find out if you have grounds for an appeal.
Is an Appeal Different from a Criminal Trial?
The appeals process is much different from the criminal trial process in Riverside County. In criminal trials, a jury decides whether they believe you are guilty of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt based upon the evidence presented during the case. In an appeal, a panel of judges does not decide whether they believe you committed the crime, but instead is concerned with whether you were exposed to a fair and legal criminal justice process.
An appeal is not a chance to present new evidence or bring forward new witnesses. The appellate court does not exist to second guess the jury’s verdict or question their decision-making. The focus is solely on whether legal errors were made during your criminal trial process. Let’s review some of the common grounds that your Riverside appellate lawyer may base an appeal on:
What are the Common Grounds for Appeal in Riverside County?
The appellate court cannot overturn your conviction simply because your appeals lawyer believes it should. For an appeal to be successful, your experienced Riverside appeal attorney must show that there are grounds for appeal in your case. The most common grounds for appeal in Riverside County include:
- Legally insufficient evidence – This means that when the entire record of your criminal case is reviewed in the light most favorable to the judgment, giving every reasonable inference in support thereof, there is no hypothesis whatsoever that would support an inference that the accused is guilty of the crime.
- Prosecutorial misconduct – A criminal case involves two sides: the defense and the prosecution. The prosecutor’s goal is to prove that you committed the crime. Sometimes, in attempting to achieve this goal, prosecutors cross the line. When a prosecutor uses illegal or unfair methods to convict you of a crime, you may have grounds for an appeal.
- Juror misconduct – Jurors make an oath to obey the law and follow the judge’s instructions. If a juror in your case violates this oath, your Riverside appeal attorney may have legal grounds to appeal your conviction.
- Judicial error – Judicial error is when the trial judge makes an erroneous decision or takes an improper action. Examples of this include the judge refusing to exclude evidence that should not be allowed under California law, and the judge providing improper jury instructions.
- Ineffective assistance of counsel – This legal ground for appeal means that your criminal defense attorney was ineffective. In order to be considered ineffective from a legal standpoint, your criminal lawyer must have engaged in conduct (or failed to engage in conduct) that no reasonable defense attorney would have done (or failed to do).
Finding a legal error does not mean that your criminal conviction will automatically be reversed. Once our Riverside appeal attorneys determine that a legal error has been made in your criminal case, we will attempt to show the court that the mistake impacted your ability to receive a fair trial.
Will My Conviction Be Overturned if There’s Grounds for Appeal?
If the Riverside Appellate Court finds that an error has been made in your case, it must rule whether the error is a “plain error” or a “harmless error.”
A plain error is a mistake so severe that the reversal of your criminal conviction is automatic. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, the following circumstances are considered plain errors:
- Totally depriving a defendant of legal counsel
- Lack of an impartial trial judge
- Unlawful exclusion of grand jurors on the basis of race
- Denial of the right to self-representation at trial
- Denial of the right to a public trial, and
- An erroneous reasonable doubt instruction to the jury
Appeals involving harmless errors are much more complicated. If the Riverside Appellate Court determines that the error in your case was a harmless error, one of three scenarios happens next:
If it is an error in the application of California state law, the California Supreme Court has ruled that your Riverside criminal appeals lawyer has the burden of convincing the appellate court that you would likely have received a better outcome at trial had the error not occurred.
If the mistake made during your criminal case involves a violation of your constitutional rights, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the prosecution must demonstrate that the error did not contribute to the jury’s verdict beyond a reasonable doubt. If the prosecution fails to meet this burden of proof, your conviction will be overturned.
If you had ineffective assistance of counsel, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that your Riverside appellate attorney must show that the error was “so serious that counsel was not functioning as the ‘counsel’ guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment” and this resulted in you not receiving a fair trial.
It is clear that hiring an experienced Riverside criminal appeals lawyer is your best chance to win your appeal and have your conviction reversed. This process is complex and requires the skill of an attorney who has a track record of success in Riverside appeals cases. That is why you should contact Wallin & Klarich if you wish to appeal your conviction.
What Happens if I Win an Appeal in Riverside County?
Now that you know all of the steps for filing a successful appeal in Riverside County, you are probably wondering what happens if you win your appeal. If the court grants your appeal, the appeal process is not over.
The prosecution can choose to appeal the appellate court’s ruling to a higher court. Let’s say the prosecution decides not to appeal the ruling. If your appeal is granted, the case is remanded (sent back) to the trial court. Thus, there may be a new trial in criminal court. In many cases, the prosecution will wish to avoid a new trial and offer you a favorable plea bargain.
In some cases where the Riverside Appellate Court has ruled that certain evidence should not have been allowed at trial, the prosecution may no longer believe the evidence available is sufficient to convict you of the crime. This could lead to the charges against you being dismissed.
Call an Experienced Riverside Appeal Attorney at Wallin & Klarich Today
The appeals process is extremely complicated and confusing, but you don’t have to go through it alone. Contact Wallin & Klarich today so that our experienced Riverside appeal attorneys can help you navigate the appellate process. With more than 40+ years of experience successfully representing clients in Riverside County appeal matters, we know what it takes to file a winning appeal.
Our office can be found in Riverside, right across the street from the Riverside courthouse. The office is located at:
Wallin & Klarich: A Law Corporation
4229 Main St. Suite A/B
Riverside, CA 92501
Contact our law firm today at (877) 466-5245 for a free phone consultation about appealing your conviction.