Grounds for Appealing a Criminal Conviction in New Jersey

Grounds for Appealing a Criminal Conviction in New Jersey

So you got convicted of a crime in New Jersey and you think it was a mistake, huh? Don’t worry, you still have options. Appealing a conviction is totally possible if you have good grounds. Let’s break it down so you know what your chances are.

First off, appeals happen at the appellate level, not back in the original trial court. So you’ll be going to the Appellate Division of Superior Court or maybe even the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Sounds fancy, right? Well, don’t get too excited yet. The courts make it real hard to win an appeal. You basically have to show that something went wrong at the trial court level.

There’s a couple main ways that happens. Let’s start with the evidence – if the prosecution didn’t really have enough solid evidence to convict you, you could appeal on grounds of insufficient evidence. Your lawyer will have to show that the evidence presented, even when viewed in the best light for the prosecution, couldn’t prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Tricky thing is, the appellate court gives a lot of deference to the jury’s verdict. But it can happen, if the evidence was just too flimsy.

Another common ground is getting some evidence excluded that shouldn’t have come in. Let’s say the prosecution introduced something that was hearsay or violated your 5th amendment rights. If the judge allowed it over your lawyer’s objections, that could be reversible error. Your lawyer would say the trial court abused its discretion by allowing prejudicial evidence that tainted the trial.

There’s also appeals about jury instructions. If the judge didn’t properly instruct the jury on the law, like the burden of proof or the elements of the crime, you could have a case. Your lawyer has to show the instructions were defective and it affected the outcome. Long shot, but possible.

Now for issues with your lawyer – if your trial counsel screwed up big time, you can claim ineffective assistance of counsel. This is tough to prove though. Basically your lawyer’s performance has to have been so deficient that it deprived you of a fair trial. Just making some questionable choices usually doesn’t cut it. But if they really botched the case preparation, didn’t investigate properly, or had a big conflict of interest – those have a shot.

Trial procedures are another common appeal ground. If something about the trial process was unconstitutional or unfair, bingo. Things like judicial bias, racism/sexism in jury selection, denial of your right to represent yourself, etc. could give you grounds for a new trial.

Sentencing appeals are also an option in some cases. If the punishment doesn’t fit the crime or the judge made a mistake applying sentencing guidelines, you could get the sentence reduced. This is especially important with mandatory minimums if the judge thought their hands were tied but maybe they really weren’t.

There’s a few more exotic grounds like newly discovered evidence or actual innocence claims based on DNA evidence. These are tough but could happen if you really have slam dunk new evidence that proves your innocence. Don’t hold your breath though.