Criminal Appeals and post-conviction services. If you have found yourself on this page, chances are you or a loved one has been convicted of a crime, either after a trial or after accepting a plea offer. The prospect of jail time is looming or has been realized and you want to know whether there is anything else you can do.
All hope is not lost. In Connecticut, in most criminal cases, you have an opportunity to appeal your conviction. What exactly that appeal looks like depends on the specific of your case. If you have been convicted after a trial of a felony or misdemeanor in Connecticut, you have a right to a direct appeal to the Connecticut Appellate Court. In some instances, for the most serious felonies, that appeal is directly to the Connecticut Supreme Court. If you are convicted after a plea, there is generally no right to a direct appeal except in limited circumstances, but there may be other remedies available such as a habeas corpus.
How long does a Connecticut criminal appeal take? Most criminal appeals in Connecticut take about 12 to 18 months from the date of sentencing. The starting point is filing the appeal form with the sentencing court, which must be done within 20 days of sentencing. This task is usually done by the trial counsel, but occasionally errors are made and this is not done. A defendant should be aware of this and speak with trial counsel about getting this form filed. After that, it usually takes a few months for the court stenographer or reporter to transcribe the entire trial proceedings. Once that is completed counsel for the defendant on appeal has a deadline of 45 days to file an appellate brief. This deadline is usually extended to permit counsel sufficient time to prepare. After the defense files its brief, the prosecutor writes a response and the defense then files a reply (a rebuttal of the prosecutor’s response).
The case will then sit for several months while the judges and clerks review the briefs and transcripts. Finally, the case will be set for oral argument before a panel of judges. In the Connecticut Appellate Court the panel consists of three judges. In the Connecticut Supreme Court it will consist of five or seven justices. Typically, within three to six months of oral argument the court will issue a written opinion either affirming or reversing your conviction. Some appeals take more time, some take less depending on the nature of the case and the complexity of the issues.
If you lose in the Appellate Court, you have the right to file a Petition for Certification to the Connecticut Supreme Court. Usually within a few months the Connecticut Supreme Court will decide to take your case. That decision is theirs alone. If they deny the Petition, that is essentially the end of your appeal in state court. If they grant the Petition, then there is another round of briefing and oral argument, and it could be a year of more before the Connecticut Supreme Court issues a final decision.
Get in touch. Appeals are complicated. We have tried to cover the basics here, but if you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Appealing a conviction is never easy. To have any chance, you need knowledgeable attorneys that have been through the process. That is why you need us. Contact us online or call us at 203-292-1960.