A defendant is granted the right of appeal by statute to the court of appeals in all criminal cases except under certain limited circumstances, such as where the defendant has pled guilty pursuant to a plea bargain agreement which is approved and followed by the trial court or where only a small fine has been assessed against the defendant.

A defendant is granted the right of appeal by statute to the court of appeals in all criminal cases except under certain limited circumstances, such as where the defendant has pled guilty pursuant to a plea bargain agreement which is approved and followed by the trial court or where only a small fine has been assessed against the defendant.

No. The appellate court will render its decisions based solely on the evidence set forth in the appellate record, and the legal arguments presented by the parties in their briefs and oral arguments.

No. The appellate court may choose not to entertain argument by either the defendant or this office and will advise the parties that no argument will be permitted. In those cases where argument will be permitted, if this office believes that oral argument will not materially assist the appellate court in the ultimate disposition of a case, it will not present oral argument. If the case involves a clearly unsettled issue of law, or if this office believes that oral argument will materially assist the court in making a favorable disposition of the case, however, oral argument will be requested. The appellate court, following submission of the case after argument, will issue a written opinion either affirming (upholding) the conviction or reversing (overturning) the conviction, that is the finding of guilt and the punishment assessed. Occasionally the court will only reverse or overturn the punishment assessed.

Generally, the 1st or 14th Court of Appeals located at 1307 San Jacinto, (9th floor - South Texas College of Law) Houston, Texas 77002 hears all criminal appeals from Harris County. Occasionally a Harris County appeal will be transferred to one of the other court of appeals located outside Harris County, but the judges from those courts generally come to Houston to hear any oral arguments. The oral arguments are open to the public and anyone may attend.

Yes. The defendant can ask the court of appeals to reconsider its decision by filing a motion for rehearing in which the defendant will seek to demonstrate why he believes the court of appeals' decision was incorrect. Generally, the courts of appeal consider cases before them in panels consisting of three judges. If the defendant is unsuccessful in his motion for rehearing he still can request that the entire court of appeals consider his appeal en banc, that is he may request that all of the court's members review the appeal. If unsuccessful in the court of appeals, the defendant can seek further review in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin by filing a petition for discretionary review. As the name of the petition suggests, the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals as to whether to review the case further is discretionary. Generally, the Court of Criminal Appeals will quickly uphold the decision of the court of appeals. However, in about 15 - 20% of the cases reviewed, the Court of Criminal Appeals will request additional briefs and oral arguments by the parties before deciding if the lower appellate court was correct in its decision.

Yes. The State can seek a rehearing in the court of appeals or discretionary review in the Court of Criminal Appeals under the same procedures described in the answer to question 6.

Yes. The defendant may seek relief in the United States Supreme Court by filing a petition for writ of certiorari or in the federal district courts by filing a petition for writ of habeas corpus. In addition the convicted defendant may file for habeas corpus relief in the Court of Criminal Appeals (see discussion of post conviction division).

Although there are no readily available statistics compiled to answer this question, it is fair to say that in excess of 90% of those convicted in contested trials will appeal their convictions, even if the sentence of the defendant was probated with community supervision being the only punishment assessed.

The only thing that this office can do is to file its reply brief as promptly as possible. This office's heavy workload very often prevents it from filing a brief as quickly as it would like, but every effort is made to do so consistent with assuring that the State, and ultimately the victim, is adequately represented in the appellate courts. This office, however, has no control over the initial preparation of the record, the defendant's filing of a brief, and the appellate court's timely disposition of the appeal.

Because of the many variables involved it is impossible to even attempt to set out a specific timetable. This office has seen cases where the appellate process was finally concluded in as short as a year's time, and other instances where the process exceeded five years. Each appeal is different, and there are many potential roadblocks to the expeditious disposition of a case.

In Harris County the affirmance rate, that is the rate of convictions being upheld, over the last five years has been in excess of 95%. Stated somewhat differently that means less than 5% of the defendants appealing their convictions are successful. In those statistically few instances where the conviction is set aside, a new conviction is generally sought and obtained except if the reversal was due to insufficient evidence being presented at trial. In these rare instances, we are unable to retry the cases due to the constitutional prohibition of double jeopardy.

Yes, as a general rule a defendant is entitled to bail during an appeal. In misdemeanor cases the defendant is entitled to a reasonable bail while on appeal. In felony convictions, however, where the punishment assessed the defendant equals or exceeds ten years or in the case where the defendant has been convicted of an extremely serious offense such as murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated sexual assault or indecency with a child a defendant may not be released on bail pending appeal. The court may also deny bail to a defendant convicted of a felony if there is good cause to believe that the defendant would not appear if the conviction were upheld or that the defendant was likely to commit another offense while on bail.

If the defendant has not been released on bond, the calendar time that the defendant has been incarcerated awaiting the disposition of the appeal will be used in determining his release date from the penitentiary whether by parole or mandatory release in the instance of a felony, or from jail in the instance of a misdemeanor. If the defendant has been on bail during the appeals process, his bondsman will be contacted and requested to instruct the defendant to surrender to law enforcement authorities so that the directives of the judgment of conviction may be carried out.

If the case has been reversed due to insufficient evidence having been offered by the state of the defendant's guilt at the first trial, constitutional principles of double jeopardy prevent the state from putting the defendant to trial again. If the reversal is based upon an error in the guilt or innocence stage of trial or on the basis of errors in both the guilt and innocence stage and the punishment stage of the trial the case is restored to its position before the former trial, that is, in effect, as if the former trial had never occurred. If the case is reversed on the basis of errors made only in the punishment stage of trial, however, the trial court shall commence the new trial as if a finding of guilt had been returned and proceed directly to the punishment stage of trial.