Appealing a Conviction
Many criminal defendants find themselves in the unfortunate circumstance of pleading guilty or no contest or being convicted by a jury during the initial trial phase of their case. For most defendants, the next logical step is to appeal the conviction whether it is based on technical defects that occurred during the trial or insufficiency of the evidence presented at trial. Appeals from criminal defendants in Tennessee often make their way to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals or Tennessee Supreme Court, where appellants find themselves fighting an uphill battle due to the standard of review employed by those courts.
Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 13(e) provides: “Findings of guilt in criminal actions whether by the trial court or jury shall be set aside if the evidence is insufficient to support the findings by the trier of fact of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” This means that a criminal appellant who challenges the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal must demonstrate why the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict, resulting in a shifting of the burden of proof from the state at trial to the appellant on appeal. This is so because a finding of guilt at the trial level destroys the presumption of innocence that every criminal defendant enjoys at the trial stage.
Proving the insufficiency of evidence on appeal can thus be a daunting task for those convicted of crimes at the trial level. An experienced criminal defense attorney can help ease this burden somewhat by helping their clients keep track of the time limits for filing their appeal, make sure it is filed properly and raises the proper issues, and then ensure that the evidence is presented in an effective manner on appeal. Tennessee defendants who find themselves facing the appeal of a criminal conviction should contact an East Tennessee criminal defense attorney immediately for assistance in orchestrating an effective appeal.
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