Under Wisconsin law, anyone convicted of a crime has the right to appeal their conviction. Your conviction may get reversed on appeal.
To file an appeal, the petitioner must submit the notice of intent to appeal within 20 days of the sentencing hearing. Failure to submit the request on time will vitiate your appeal rights.
Improperly obtained evidence
You may have grounds to get your conviction overturned if the evidence in your case was not lawfully obtained. The most common way evidence is illegally obtained is by an improper search and seizure. If the search warrant was not valid or if the seizure of evidence was without a warrant, you can appeal to have your conviction thrown out.
Jury selection problems
In some trials, potential jury members may get improperly excluded. If members of your jury pool were not selected by Wisconsin law, you have grounds for an appeal.
Ineffective assistance of counsel
If your defense attorney makes mistakes during the trial, you may have grounds for an appeal. The mistakes must rise to the level that made the attorney’s performance below what a reasonable person would expect. You will also have to show that this substandard performance affected the final disposition of your case.
During any appeal, the appellate court will rely on the facts as established by the trial court. Your attorney must raise objections during the original trial to preserve any issue on an appeal. The appellate judge will only hear legal arguments during the appeal and not consider any new evidence.
