MILWAUKEE CRIMINAL APPEALS LAWYERS

iStock_000013316132XSmall.jpgOur office is frequently retained to represent clients who have been convicted of a wide variety of state and federal offenses.

Our appeal representation begins with a review of the proceedings in the trial court. We search for errors which occurred at the time of trial or during the guilty plea. The client may have had his constitutional right denied as a result of trial counsel's, the prosecutor's, or the judge's conduct. Our review begins by scrutinizing police records, transcripts, court files, witness statements, and the trial attorney's file. We often conduct our own investigation and hire experts to perform scientific evaluations. When this is completed, we determine whether the case should be returned to the trial court for post-conviction motions, or whether an appeal should be taken directly to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.

If a post-conviction motion is pursued, the trial judge will address the issues which we raise, as well as challenges to the conviction. The court will then decide whether the client should be given a new trial, should be allowed to withdraw his plea of guilty, or should be re-sentenced. If the judge refuses to grant our request, we have the right to appeal to the Court of Appeals.

Our office also litigates motions to reduce sentence, request for re-sentencing, and §974.06 motions. The latter is a challenge to a guilty plea, to a verdict, or to a sentence which is brought after the time for appeal has expired. These proceedings may be brought at any time after the appeal period is over if a good reason can be shown for the delay and the failure to raise the issue during the traditional appeal period.

Our federal practice includes appeals from federal district court decisions, as well as §2254 and §2255 motions. The first type of appeal is argued in front of a three judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals. The latter occurs when a client asks a trial judge to grant a new trial after the appeal time has expired.

Our office has achieved significant success for our appeal clients through post-conviction motions, appeals before the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and even the United States Supreme Court. Our clients have the benefit of being represented by Milwaukee criminal appeals attorneys who practice daily in the criminal courts of this state and who are very experienced in the appellate arena.