Originally Posted By: Turnbull
Originally Posted By: olivant
most Americans don't understand: the complexities, the nuances of our states' and federal government's justice systems.

Oli, I'm not a lawyer. But one of the things I've learned is that in our justice system, you may be considered "innocent until proven guilty" when you come to trial. But if you're convicted and file an appeal, you're guilty until proven innocent. Supposedly the only grounds for appeal are reversible judicial or prosecutorial errors, or new evidence that surfaced after the trial. But, your lawyer's failure to pick up on those errors at a trial, either by objecting or excepting, will enable the appellate court to let the conviction stand.


That's true. Generally, the only issues a criminal defendant has available on direct appeal are issues of law that have been preserved by counsel's timely objections during trial. If direct appeals have been exhausted, defendants may rely upon post-conviction petitions to allege other very limited issues, such as ineffective assistance of counsel. But usually before a reviewing court will address the merits of the issue, the appellant must establish that his/her counsel's ineffectiveness led to a result that so undermined the truth determining process that no reliable adjudication of guilt could have taken place. This is an extremely high burden for the defendant, and these petitions are rarely successful.