You found yourself in the extremely unfortunate scenario of facing criminal charges for something you didn’t do. While this was worrying, you still had faith that the justice system would get it right in the end. You also knew that you were entitled to a fair trial.
Part of getting a fair trial is having effective counsel to represent you. Unfortunately, your counsel at the time did not live up to this. They let you down through negligence. What is ineffective counsel and can you make a criminal appeal based on this?
Examples of ineffective counsel
Throughout the trial, the prosecution will have produced various pieces of evidence against you. It’s not only the job of the defense team to challenge this evidence, but they should object to inadmissible evidence being produced at all.
One example of potentially inadmissible evidence is hearsay. Witnesses are supposed to testify to what they saw and experienced directly, not what others have told them. If this type of evidence was used against you without challenge, then your defense team was arguably ineffective.
A good defense doesn’t just present itself, your legal team has to put in the groundwork. They are responsible for preparing your defense to the best of their ability. If they fail in this duty by not researching the law or investigating thoroughly, you may be able to raise the argument that they were ineffective.
Ineffective counsel is just one potential ground of criminal appeal. To right the wrongs of your initial trial, it’s important to seek some legal guidance from someone with experience in appellate law.