NCJ Number
125877
Date Published
1990
Length
57 pages
Annotation
Criminal appeals in California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, and Rhode Island were examined to explore the existence and nature of errors identified by appellate courts.
Abstract
The majority of appeals followed trial convictions, and homicides and other crimes against the person constituted just over half of all appeals. The large plurality of appeals in each jurisdiction involved cases with sentences of 5 years or less. In appeals following jury trials, the most frequent challenges were to rulings on the introduction of evidence or testimony (43 percent), evidence sufficiency (35 percent), and jury instructions (30 percent). Instances in which a conviction or judgment was overturned and the case was either remanded for a new trial or charges were dismissed were quite infrequent. Defendants had the most success in obtaining a new sentence hearing or a corrected sentence entered by the appellate courts. In a total of 1,750 cases examined, appellate courts identified 267 prejudicial errors out of almost 3,800 issues raised that affected other than the sentence hearing or the sentence. Errors concerned evidence, instructions, procedural and discretionary rulings, evidence sufficiency, merger of offenses, and evidence suppression. The data indicate that defense appeals across courts are generally unsuccessful. Defendants win only about 20 percent of the time, and convictions are overturned in less than 10 percent of all appeals. Recommendations for additional policy-related research on reversible error in criminal appeals are offered. 23 references and 12 tables.