Post conviction

In law, post-conviction refers to the legal process which takes place after a trial results in conviction of the defendant. After conviction, a court will proceed with sentencing the guilty party. In the criminal justice system, once a defendant has received a guilty verdict, he or she can then challenge a conviction or sentence. This takes place through different legal actions, known as filing an appeal or a federal habeas corpus proceeding. The goal of these proceedings is exoneration, or proving a convicted person innocent. If lacking representation, the defendant may consult or hire an attorney to exercise his or her legal rights.

The post-conviction process is in place to protect innocent individuals from inherent human error in the criminal justice system. One study cites 10,000 innocent people are convicted each year in the United States. The first international convention focusing on the global human rights issue of wrongful conviction was held in 2011 at the University of Cincinnati College of Law's Rosenthal Institute for Justice/Ohio Innocence Project. The event, titled the Innocence Network Conference, laid groundwork for further means to advance best practices in criminal justice focusing on this field. As a result, the book False Justice -- Eight Myths that Convict the Innocent authored by Jim and Nancy Petro was translated into Chinese, demonstrating the importance of innocence work throughout the globe.

The appeals process is the request for a formal change of a decision made by a court of law. The litigant who files the appeal is known as the "appellant." A successful appeal must demonstrate to a higher court that the trial court made a decision affected by legal error. The appellate procedure in the United States takes place in appellate court, which makes its judgment based only on the record of the original case. The appellant generally submits a document of legal arguments called a "brief," a written attempt to persuade the judges of appellate court that the decision of the trial court should be reversed. If selected for an "oral argument," appellants may present a short spoken argument to the court. No additional pieces of evidence or witnesses are considered.

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