Appeals Attorney in San Antonio, Texas
If someone is convicted, is their case over?
If someone is convicted, is their case over?
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No, not necessarily. Um, your case isn’t over if you have been convicted of a criminal offense. That’s just where the
postconviction proceedings start. You’ll have the right to a direct appeal. If your direct appeal doesn’t go in your favor, you’ll also be able to file a
petition for discretionary review to the Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin. Um,
and if you are successful there, your case still isn’t over. You can continue fighting through postconviction remedies like an 1107 rid of habius corpus which
is where you would raise issues that your constitutional rights have been violated and you’re being confined based on a constitutional violation. You also
have u postconviction DNA um motions that can be filed if there’s something in your in your case that wasn’t tested.
Um and then in test in Texas we also have junk science rits of habius corpus.
If you were convicted through a process that involves some sort of science that is now changed or been found to be junk science, you can also get your case overturned through those process.
San Antonio, TX criminal defense attorney Dayna Jones talks about how even if someone is convicted, their case might not be over. She explains that a criminal conviction does not necessarily mean that a case is over and that post-conviction proceedings can provide additional avenues for challenging a conviction. She notes that a person who has been convicted of a criminal offense generally has the right to pursue a direct appeal. If the direct appeal is unsuccessful, the person may also be able to file a petition for discretionary review with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin.
She further explains that even if a person is unsuccessful at that stage, the case may still be challenged through various post-conviction remedies. One such remedy is a writ of habeas corpus under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 11.07, which can be used to raise claims that a person’s constitutional rights were violated and that they are being confined as a result of a constitutional violation.
She also discusses post-conviction DNA motions, which may be available when there is evidence in a case that was not previously subjected to DNA testing. In addition, she explains that Texas provides a post-conviction habeas corpus remedy for cases involving what has subsequently been determined to be “junk science.” If a person’s conviction relied on scientific evidence or methodology that has since changed or been found to be scientifically unreliable, that person may have an avenue to seek relief and potentially have the conviction overturned through the applicable post-conviction process.
