Nevada State & Federal Appeal and Post Conviction

The Criminal Appeals process in Las Vegas is a very complicated one and having an experienced Las Vegas Criminal Appeals Lawyer on your side is one of the very best ways to ensure that your rights are protected, and you will achieve the best result possible.

What Happens in an Appeal?

Many people believe that an appeal is essentially a new trial. This isn’t the case. In most appeals you do not get to present new evidence to the Court or call new witnesses to testify. In fact, most appeals to not make findings of fact at all, they simply review the record and see if there are legal issues, or mistakes, that warrant a new trial or other relief. Most appeals involve asking a higher Court, or a Court of review, to decide if there are issues that should have been handled differently in the proceedings below. The appeals court (such as the Nevada Court of Appeals, the Nevada Supreme Court or the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals) will decide your case on the record and, in some cases, the arguments of counsel. Rather than make factual findings, most appeals courts decide questions of law.

While it isn’t a “new trial” an appeal is another step in the process that can be used to achieve the best result when, for any number of variable reasons, a Trial does not go your way. A good analogy is a boxing match. Many fighters win a boxing match with a first-round knockout. In Trial terms, that is like a not guilty verdict at Trial. You have won, and the match is over. In other cases, a boxer may get beaten in the first round and come back to rally in the second round. An appeal of a Criminal case conviction is just another round in which you can win your case and get you to a point where you can ultimately prevail. Often there are unique issues in a criminal trial that can’t be foreseen in advance. These can be things such as improperly admitted evidence, incorrect rulings by the Court or a jury who is given inadequate instructions. When these mistakes at Trial are identified and preserved, they can be raised on appeal and a new trial can be granted. At such a new trial, the Court has direction not to make the same mistakes again, and this can lead to an entirely different verdict or result.

An experienced Nevada Appellate lawyer can look at the record of your case, including pleadings filed, testimony taken and decisions from the Court, and determine whether there are grounds for appeal. If such grounds exist, and time deadlines are met, a Las Vegas appeals lawyer can potentially put you in a position to have your case decided again, in a proceeding which is more fair than the original one.

At the Las Vegas law firm of Hofland & Tomsheck, we understand that there can be errors in any Court process. We know how to identify errors and issues for appeal that can make all the difference in you receiving a just result in your unique criminal case. We have a wealth of legal experience in both Criminal Trial and Appellate law and our attorneys have argued successfully many times before the Nevada Supreme Court and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. We will continue to fight for you and your case even when the appeal process seems hopeless and confusing. Contact Hofland & Tomsheck today at (702) 895-6760 to discuss your appellate rights and the unique features of your appellate case and let us get to work fighting for you.