Fairfax Criminal Appeal Lawyer

When meeting with Criminal Appeal Attorney in Fairfax, VA Dave Albo about a homicide arrest, one of the first things that may happen is deciding which defense strategy to use. The punishments for a murder conviction may mean life in prison. Just knowing this is a potential risk is usually enough to motivate a person to seek legal representation quickly. We cannot emphasize just how important it is that you do not wait to hire an attorney at our practice. The longer you wait, the less time we have to build a strategy in your defense. 

After a thorough evaluation of what happened, a Criminal Appeal Attorney in Fairfax, VA can talk with you about the various defenses to murder and which may be most influential in your case, such as: 

Self-Defense (Justifiable Killing)

Perhaps you acknowledge that you were present and a killing did occur. However, maybe you were acting in self-defense against the other person which resulted in them dying. The term self-defense is when someone uses force against another to protect themselves from an attack or harm. In truth, Americans have the right to protect one’s person and property from injury. To prove self-defense, you and your VA Criminal Appeal Attorney at Dave Albo law firm will have to show the following elements applied: 

• There was an attack that you didn’t provoke
• The attack was threatening to your safety
• In response, you used a reasonable level of force
• There was an objective concern that you may face severe injury or death if you hadn’t protected yourself

Diminished Capacity (Insanity)

While claiming insanity may be used quite often in television shows and cases of murder on the news, your attorney Dave Albo may tell you that this defense isn’t utilized as frequently as you may think. It actually takes a significant amount of proof for your criminal defense attorney in Fairfax, VA to show that someone was truly insane and should not endure the same kind of consequences for their actions as those who are of a stable mindset. Under the diminished capacity defense, there are a few angles that can be used: 

• Mental Disorder: the accused must state and show proof that he or she is not guilty by reason of insanity. Your Virginia Criminal Appeal Attorney in Fairfax can speak with expert witnesses in the field for their opinion about whether the accused was suffering from a severe mental disorder, which impacted their ability to reason right from wrong. 
• Impairment: the accused was impaired either from head trauma, intoxication, or mental illness. Depending on the factors of the case, the accused may receive a lesser charge or be acquitted of the charges. 
• Defendant of Minor Age: someone who is under the legal age of adulthood may get charged with manslaughter instead of murder, because children or teenagers may not understand the consequences of their behavior. 

Needless to say, hiring a seasoned attorney for a serious matter like a murder can make the difference between spending your life in jail or receiving a verdict that is closer to what you would have hope for. Dave Albounderstands what is at stake. Please call Dave Albo right now to talk over the phone and schedule your first free, no-obligation consultation with a Criminal Appeal Attorney in Fairfax, Virginia. 

The American criminal justice system is imperfect. Just as human error impacts every American commercial and service industry, so does it impact each and every branch of the government. Thankfully, there are processes in place designed to “catch” mistakes and set things right again that have been put askew. For example, when either a civil or criminal verdict has been reached mistakenly, the wronged party may request an appeal. In the case of wrongful criminal conviction, an experienced Farifax, VA criminal appeal lawyer can help those affected request an appeal to get the wrongful conviction overturned.

Appealing a Criminal Conviction – The Basics

When a judge or jury hands down a criminal conviction, the individual who has been convicted can work with an experienced Farifax, VA criminal appeal lawyer to file an appeal with the next highest court. Depending on the infraction in question, that appeals court may be state-run or federal. In the request for appeal, an attorney will outline any rules violations or other challenges that may have contributed to the initial, erroneous verdict. Once the appeal is reviewed by the higher court, the conviction may be upheld, overturned, upheld in part or sent back down to the lower court for additional review. It should be noted that if the conviction in question resulted from a guilty plea, the individual facing conviction is not always granted an automatic right to appeal. By contrast, if a defendant originally pleaded not guilty but was convicted anyway, the right of appeal is usually automatically granted.

In general, in order to have an appeal granted, the higher court will need to be convinced that the defendant has adequate grounds for appeal. Meaning, some sort of legal error, misconduct on the part of a juror, ineffective assistance of counsel or some other legally valid “problem” must have occurred during the first trial before an appeals court will review the verdict in question. If everything in the initial trial was “by the book” than a defendant likely won’t have strong grounds for appeal. However, in criminal cases involving an automatic right to appeal, legal challenges need not have been present in the initial trial for an appellate court to review the case. However, if there were no problems present in that trial, the appellate court will have little reason to overturn the will of the initial judge or jury.

Legal Guidance Is Available

If you need to appeal a criminal conviction or you would like to help a loved one appeal a conviction, schedule a consultation with a Fairfax, Virginia criminal appeal lawyer at the law office of Dave Albo – Attorney today. The appeals process is complex and is not always easy to navigate. However, having an experienced Fairfax, VA criminal defense lawyer guide you through the process will increase your chances of success. The criminal justice system does not always get verdicts right the first time. Let our legal team help you to try to get yours right once and for all.