Title: Why Appeals in Death Penalty Cases Take So Long | Lawyers.com
Headings: Why Appeals in Death Penalty Cases Take So Long
Why Appeals in Death Penalty Cases Take So Long
The Typical Path of State Criminal Appeals
Appealing a State Court Conviction: A Direct Appeal
Appealing a State Court Conviction: Filing a Writ of Habeas Corpus
Appealing a State Court Conviction: Going to Federal Court
The Typical Path of Federal Criminal Appeals
Death Penalty Appeals
Delays Caused by the State
Is the Long Appeals Process a Waste of Time?
Questions for Your Lawyer

Content: Why Appeals in Death Penalty Cases Take So Long | Lawyers.com
Criminal Law
Criminal Law
Why Appeals in Death Penalty Cases Take So Long
Appealing any criminal conviction can take years. Add to that a publicly paid (but underpaid) lawyer and the inability to correct matters if a defendant is executed by mistake, and you’ve got a long, long road ahead. By Janet Portman, Attorney
Updated: May 15th, 2015
Death penalty cases go through a longer appellate process because they involve more steps and trips to the courthouse than the average felony conviction. In theory, all cases can avail themselves of every step, but in practice, most non-death cases stop somewhere along the way. Death penalty appeals leave no stone unturned simply because the stakes are so high, and to state the obvious, a mistaken execution cannot be corrected later. Defendants who are sentenced to death spend years, even decades, behind bars, awaiting a sentence that might never be carried out. That waiting period has two phases: ( 1) Time spent pursuing appeals and writs (a type of appeal), attempting to reverse the conviction, if not the sentence; and (2) after all appeals have been exhausted (and lost), time spent waiting for the sentence to be carried out.