Appeals & Post-Conviction
After a conviction: how criminal appeals work, withdrawing a guilty plea, post-conviction relief, new-trial motions, ineffective-assistance claims, habeas corpus, and overturning a wrongful conviction.
All Appeals & Post-Conviction guides
- Wrongful Convictions and How They Get Overturned
How wrongful convictions happen and the real legal paths to overturn them: DNA testing, innocence projects, conviction integrity units, and habeas corpus.
- What Is Post-Conviction Relief?
Post-conviction relief lets you challenge a conviction after appeals end—new evidence, ineffective counsel, or constitutional violations.
- How to Withdraw a Guilty Plea
Can you take back a guilty plea? Learn when courts allow it, what grounds work, and the deadlines that matter before and after sentencing.
- Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Ineffective assistance of counsel means proving deficient lawyering AND prejudice under Strickland - a real but hard-to-win claim.
- How a Criminal Appeal Works
An appeal reviews trial errors, not a retrial. Learn the strict filing deadline, the record, briefs, oral argument, and standards of review.
- Sentence Reduction and Modification
How sentence reduction works: modification motions, compassionate release, resentencing, good-time credits, and clemency — and how they differ by state and federal law.
- Habeas Corpus Explained
Habeas corpus explained: how 28 U.S.C. §2254/2255 work, the strict AEDPA one-year deadline, and state exhaustion rules.
- How to Get a New Trial
How to ask a court for a new trial after a conviction: valid grounds, tight filing deadlines, and the steps to take right away.