Evidentiary issues – A judge may have decided that someone was not going to be allowed to testify in your defense. If you thought that should have been otherwise, you can appeal this part of your case and make the argument that they should have been allowed to testify.
Pretrial motions – Many times, a defendant will have pretrial motions that are decided against them. This can be anything from how evidence was collected, to how a search warrant was executed, or how any number of your other constitutional rights were violated. In appealing a pretrial motion, you are asking the court to look at these procedures again to make sure they are carried out correctly.
Sentencing – This holds mostly true in federal criminal sentencing and will challenge whether or not the judge used the proper sentencing guidelines to determine the length and severity of a sentence they handed down. If a sentence seems unduly harsh, it is up to the defendant’s legal team to show the judge had some bias or prejudice that resulted in the harsh penalty.
Sufficiency of evidence – You can file an appeal if you think the prosecutor did not present enough evidence to find you guilty of a crime. These types of appeals are tough to win, but they do remain an option.