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: As for writs, these take time and money and are appropriate only when the defendant has outside-the-record claims. Few can raise these claims credibly. Death penalty cases are different. Because the stakes are so high, state legislatures have recognized that they must provide funds for lawyers to take advantage of every opportunity to raise arguments that might save their clients’ lives (most death penalty defendants are indigent and rely on publicly paid lawyers). This means that the appeal will surely go to the state’s highest court (in California, in one lonely example of efficiency, the case skips the intermediate appellate court and goes directly to the highest court), and might be presented to the U.S. Supreme Court as well. At the same time, lawyers will prepare parallel writs that they present to both the state and federal courts. It can take many years for lawyers to prepare these complicated cases, and more time still for them to wind their way through the system once the appeal or writ has been filed. Delays Caused by the State
The complexities of a death penalty appeal and writ are not the sole reason for the extraordinary time it takes for one of these cases to reach finality (overturning the conviction or sentence or losing completely). The state itself plays a major part: Through lack of funding, an already long road has become even longer.