01 Jun I’ve been convicted of a felony in Arizona. Is there anything left to do?

Being convicted of a felony in Arizona, or even a misdemeanor, is not the end of the line. There are still avenues that can be taken to positively effect your life, reduce the number of negative consequences of a criminal conviction, or even overturn or modify the terms of the sentence. This is known as the Post Conviction Issues/Appeals Process.

Appeals

Once you are convicted of a crime in Arizona, you have two weeks (14 days) from your sentencing date to file a Notice of Appeal along with a Designation of Record. The court will then issue a Briefing Schedule which will provide the limits regarding when the Appellant’s Brief is to be filed.

Filing PCR Petitions in Arizona

If your legal defense and counsel were inadequate, which many feel is the case with public defenders, or a substantive change to the law has occurred, or new evidence pointing to your evidence has been found, then a Post Conviction Relief Petition or PCR may be filed.

Habeas Corpus

In latin “Habeas Corpus” translates to “that you have the body”. This can be filed anytime. This is usually a last resort after all other Appellate rights and Post Conviction Relief Petitions have been tried. It is filed most often to ensure that your imprisonment was legal. It is sometimes filed early in the process if your legal counsel believes your bond was set too high or being not set at all was a violation of the constitution.

Arizona Rule 32

In Arizona, you may appeal a conviction for 1 of 3 reasons: newly discovered evidence, ineffective assistance of counsel, or substantive change of law. However, you must also prove that your case would have turned out differently with more effective legal counsel if that is the reason for the appeal.

Do you need assistance with your post convictions issues/appeals process for a felony conviction in Arizona? Contact certified criminal law specialist Todd Coolidge today! 480-264-5111

*The information in this blog is for general information purposes only. This blog post should not be taken to constitute a formal recommendation or professional advice. We exclude all representations, warranties, legal liability or responsibility relating to its content.

Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (6/1/2016) JoshuaDavisPhotography (Flickr)