Win a Pennsylvania Criminal Appeal — A Top Appeals Lawyer Explains

The Pennsylvania Court System

To understand an appeal, you have to know Pennsylvania's court system. Pennsylvania has a Unified Judicial System that consists of several layers or levels of courts. The courts in the Pennsylvania criminal justice system are:

• Minor Courts, including Municipal Courts. These are the first-level people's courts, governed by magisterial district judges and, in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, municipal judges. Pennsylvania has more than 500 magisterial districts. These courts hold preliminary arraignments and preliminary hearings, set bail except in cases of murder or voluntary manslaughter, and determine when serious crimes are sent to the courts of common pleas for trial.

• Courts of Common Pleas. The courts of common pleas are trial courts. There are 60 judicial districts, generally corresponding with county lines, although some have more than one county.

• Superior Court. The Superior Court is a state-wide court of appeals. A person convicted of a crime in a court of common pleas can appeal that conviction to the Superior Court to determine whether any legal errors occurred during the trial that prejudiced the outcome of the case. A three-judge panel of the Superior Court decides the appeal. In some cases, all of the judges of the court may get together to hear re-arguments in an important or complex case.

• Supreme Court. This is the highest court in Pennsylvania. The Court accepts only a few of the petitions it receives every year for review from judgments of the Superior Court. Generally, the Supreme Court hears issues relating to the constitutionality of laws, the interpretation of statutes, and processes or matters of great public interest. It also acts as the first court of appeals in death-sentence cases.

In Pennsylvania's criminal justice system, you may interact with each of the courts. An arraignment will be held in a minor court, the trial in the court of common pleas, a first appeal in the Superior Court, and an appeal from the Superior Court in the Supreme Court. For those sentenced to the death penalty, the first appeal is heard in the Supreme Court.

What Is an Appeal in Pennsylvania?

Review. If you have been convicted of a crime in Pennsylvania, you have the right to ask another court, the Superior Court, to review your case and determine whether legal errors occurred during the trial and influenced the verdict. You also have the right to ask the appeals court look at whether the verdict was against the weight of the evidence (described below). This request for review is called an appeal. If you appeal your conviction, you are the "appellant" and the Commonwealth (through the prosecutor) is the "appellee."

Legal errors. Legal (not factual) errors that occurred during the trial and that affected the outcome can be grounds for an appeal. In Pennsylvania, your appeal is decided by the Superior Court, which is a level above the trial court. To win an appeal and get your conviction or sentence overturned, you file an Appellant's Brief, which is a written argument detailing why your conviction should be overturned. The prosecutor files an Appellee's Brief, to which you are allowed to file a Reply Brief. The Superior Court may also ask for verbal arguments of the issues on appeal.

Weight of the evidence. An appeal is usually based on legal errors demonstrated in the record of the trial; however, you can also argue that the conviction was against the "manifest weight of the evidence." Generally, the jury weighs the evidence and decides which facts are more important than others. A conviction is against the manifest weight of the evidence when, considering all the evidence against you, certain facts that point to your innocence are of clearly greater weight than other facts that point to your guilt, so that to give them the same weight and convict you is to deny justice.

Experienced appellate attorneys are experts in reviewing the record and identifying legal errors. Based on their experience, they can also gauge whether the verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence. Skilled attorneys can then write a compelling brief detailing why the Superior Court should overturn your conviction.

How to Win a Criminal Appeal in Pennsylvania

Winning a criminal appeal in Pennsylvania takes skill and perseverance as well as a thorough knowledge of Pennsylvania's appellate procedure. Winning depends on the unique facts of your case and the way your attorney presents the law and facts to the appellate judges on Pennsylvania's Superior Court. Experienced appellate attorneys have developed successful strategies for winning appeals.

Three Key Strategies

1. Pinpointing Legal Errors in the Record.

Successful appeals in Pennsylvania are based on legal errors that occurred during trial or sentencing. The jury is the final factfinder in a trial, so an appeals court will review only legal errors. These errors may include the judge's admission of evidence that should have been excluded, misconduct by the prosecutor, or ineffective assistance of your trial counsel. Experienced appellate attorneys are experts in finding legal errors that occurred at the trial or sentencing and showing how those legal errors impacted the outcome of your trial.

2. Showing Your Innocence.

While many appeals are won by showing that legal errors occurred at trial, you have a better chance at winning an appeal if you can show that you are actually innocent of the crime you were convicted of. Showing innocence depends on the facts of your particular case, but experienced appellate attorneys have had success in demonstrating to the Superior Court that a client is innocent and that the Court should be concerned with seeing justice done. The goal is to show that (1) your rights were violated during the trial and (2) reversing the conviction serves justice and is the right moral decision.

3. Breaking Down the Prosecutor's Argument

You can count on the prosecutor to argue against overturning a conviction in almost every appeal. After you file your Appellant's Brief in the Pennsylvania Superior Court, the prosecutor has the right to file an Appellee's Brief, arguing that no errors were committed at trial that negatively influenced the outcome. Experienced appellate attorneys do not let the prosecutor have the last word. They put great effort into writing what is known as a Reply Brief, showing how the prosecutor's arguments are legally wrong, and/or factually irrelevant, or inapplicable to your specific case.

What is successful in one case is not always successful in another; each case is unique. However, the strategies listed above have resulted in positive outcomes in hundreds of cases and can be applied when the facts and the law warrant them. To learn more about the strategies that might be successful in your appeal, contact SPCRC's Recommended Pennsylvania Lawyers.

Pennsylvania's Superior Court

The Superior Court in Pennsylvania is an appeals court, meaning that it does not hold trials but only hears appeals from a lower court (such as a court of common pleas). If you follow the rules for appealing and have a valid reason for the appeal, the Superior Court must hear and decide the appeal. Appeal is a matter of right for a criminal defendant.

The road to the Superior Court is complicated. The appeals process starts in the trial court as early as 10 days after sentencing. It moves to the Superior Court after the trial court judge files an Opinion in Support of Order (1925(a) Opinion) upholding your conviction. The Superior Court issues a schedule for briefs and arguments, then gives its opinion on the appeal.

Pennsylvania's Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is also an appeals court. It is the oldest appeals court in the nation. You may appeal a decision of the Superior Court to the Supreme Court. However, unlike the Superior Court, the Supreme Court is not required to hear the appeal. Hearing any appeal (except an appeal from a death sentence) is discretionary with the Court, meaning they can take it or not, no matter how important the issue.

To appeal a decision of the Superior Court, you must file a Petition for Allowance of Appeal within 30 days of the Superior Court's denial of your appeal. If you won in the Superior Court, the prosecution may file a Petition in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court may grant a petition for any of the following reasons:

• the Superior Court's decision conflicts with another appellate court decision,
• the Superior Court's decision conflicts with a holding of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court or the United States Supreme Court on the same legal question,
• the issue you are raising has never been heard by the Supreme Court before,
• the issue on appeal is of such substantial public importance that is requires "prompt and definitive resolution" by the Supreme Court,
• the issue on appeal involves the constitutionality of a Pennsylvania statute,
• the Superior Court's decision is so contrary to accepted judicial practices or the Superior Court so abused its discretion in deciding the appeal that the Supreme Court should exercise its supervisory authority, or
• the Superior Court erroneously entered an order quashing (disallowing) or dismissing your appeal.

If Pennsylvania's Supreme Court denies your appeal, you can petition the United States Supreme Court to hear your case. The U.S. Supreme Court is not required to hear your appeal. It takes only the cases it wishes to take. If your case involves an important or novel constitutional issue, the U.S. Supreme Court might take your case.

If you appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Court denies your appeal, the direct appeal process from the original verdict is over.

What Happens After a Successful Appeal

If the Superior Court of Pennsylvania agrees with your argument, it will reverse the conviction in the trial court or vacate (overturn) your sentence. This does not necessarily mean that you go free. The Superior Court may order a new trial or sentencing hearing in your case and send the case back to the court of common pleas. Even if you win, the prosecutor may appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which can affirm (uphold) your conviction, vacate (overturn) your conviction, and/or send the case back the Superior Court or the court of common pleas.

Usually, a successful appeal results in an order of a new trial. However, if the prosecution decides that it cannot get a conviction in a fair trial, the prosecution may dismiss the charges against you or offer a plea deal.

Experienced appellate attorneys work hard to ensure that justice is done in your appeal. They fight to have the conviction thrown out entirely or to have a new, fair trial held that may give you the chance to defeat the charges against you. To see what can be done in your case, contact SPCRC's Recommended Pennsylvania Lawyers.