APPEALS · STATEWIDE OREGON
Criminal Appeals
For a criminal appeal, the deadline is 30 days, and it may already be running. Other kinds of cases have different deadlines — a parole-board appeal, for example, is 60 days — so even if you think you've missed yours, don't assume it's too late. Reach out and I can check your start date and tell you where you actually stand.
• Free 15 minute call to discuss your options
THE BASICS
What a criminal appeal is
An appeal asks a higher court to review what happened at your trial. It is always, and only, about a mistake the trial court made — evidence that should have been kept out, a wrong instruction to the jury, a sentence the law doesn't allow. An appeal is not a new trial. There are no new witnesses and no new evidence; the appellate court reads the record of what already happened and decides whether the law was applied correctly.
The deadline is short and unforgiving. In most Oregon criminal cases, a notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of the judgment. Miss it, and the right to appeal can be lost for good.
Oregon deadline
A criminal notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of the judgment. Other kinds of appeals have different deadlines. If you're considering an appeal, reach out now.
WHERE APPEALS GO
The appeals I handle
Oregon & federal courts
State and federal appeals
Direct appeals from Oregon convictions to the Oregon Court of Appeals, and from federal convictions to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
U.S. Supreme Court
Petitions for certiorari
Asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision from the Ninth Circuit or the Oregon Supreme Court.
After the Court of Appeals rules, further review is discretionary — a Petition for Review to the Oregon Supreme Court, or a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court.
I also handle other kinds of appeals — DMV, parole, and municipal matters among them. See Other Relief & Rights →
EASY TO CONFUSE
Appeal or post-conviction relief?
Usually first
An appeal
Challenges the trial judge's mistakes, on the record. The deadline is very short.
Usually after
Post-conviction
Reaches violations of your rights the record doesn't show. It usually comes after an appeal, but doesn't require one.
An appeal is usually the first step after a conviction — but many cases need more than one, and a missed deadline on one can close the next.
How an appeal and post-conviction relief differ, and which comes first:
Appeal or Post-Conviction Relief? The Difference in Oregon →
For the problems an appeal can't reach, like a lawyer who failed you:
Post-conviction relief →
Every way to challenge a conviction in Oregon, start to finish:
Can a Criminal Conviction Be Overturned in Oregon? →
COMMON QUESTIONS
Find quick answers
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In most criminal cases, a notice of appeal is due within 30 days of the judgment. A court can sometimes permit a late filing up to 90 days out, but that's permission, not a right — so the safest move is to ask right away.
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Depending on the error, an appeal can lead to a reversed conviction, a new trial, or a corrected sentence. It's based on legal mistakes at trial — not new evidence.
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Appeals after a guilty plea are more limited, but some issues — particularly sentencing — can still be raised. It's worth asking early.
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No. An appeal challenges the trial judge's mistakes on the record; post-conviction reaches rights violations the record doesn't show. Many cases need both.
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Yes — appeals to the Ninth Circuit, and petitions for certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision from the Ninth Circuit or the Oregon Supreme Court.