You have the right to a quick and fair trial in the presence of an impartial jury of Virginia and any state for that matter. In Virginia, you have the right to request an appeal if you disagree with the verdict. You can appeal your case through your criminal defense lawyer.
Appealing Your Case in Virginia
It also depends on where the case was filed and tried originally in Virginia. For instance, if your case was tried in the General District Court and you did not like the verdict, you will receive an automatic right to take your case to the Circuit Court.
Your criminal defense lawyer will give written notice of your intent appeal to the court within ten days of the verdict. So, if you want to appeal your case, you need to do it within ten days. Your lawyer will also post an appeal bond on your behalf.
At your case’s hearing in the Circuit Court, your lawyer can put in a request for a jury trial. You would not have an automatic right to ask for an appeal if your case was filed in the Circuit Court. In the event you are unsatisfied by the jury or judge’s verdict, ask your criminal defense attorney to file a petition to the court for an appeal.
To do that, your lawyer will require the Supreme Court to hear your appeal and if they grant it, they will then ask the court to agree with your stance on the facts of the appeal.
When Should Your Appeal Your Verdict?
You should appeal your verdict in the following cases:
1.Legal Malpractice
Legal malpractice refers to a situation where an attorney was malicious, incompetent, or negligent in handling your case. Some of the examples of this include an attorney who did not communicate with you properly, performed an improper investigation, had a conflict of interest, and misapprehended the law.
You will need to hire a new criminal defense lawyer to appeal your case and you also have the option to take legal action against your former attorney.
2.Mismanagement of Evidence
If crucial evidence in your case went missing or was tampered with, you can appeal your verdict through your lawyer.
3.Invalid Evidence
Invalid evidence occurs when it is obtained illegally. This can occur if the police officers who conducted a property search or search of a person without a warrant or if they planted false evidence on the scene. Invalid evidence is also evidence that looks like a certain thing, but it is not that. For instance, police officers may arrest someone, thinking the powdered stuff is drugs when it is actually powdered laundry detergent.
4.Invalid Arrest
False arrests happen when law enforcement officials do not have a reasonable suspicion to question the person or if they did not follow proper procedures to make the arrest.
You should avoid filing an appeal in the first place by hiring a qualified and experienced criminal defense attorney to get you a desired outcome of the case.own from a different source).
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