Is there a time frame to submit an appeal on plea?

[panda_hughes]

Please help. My husband took a plea; however, he did not understand completely what was going on. We did not have a good attorney. He scared my husband into taking a plea; however, it was not right. We were misrepresented. I want to file an appeal or something and need to know if there is a time frame. He was taken into custody on Feb 2. Is it too late? There are so many factors that indicate he was done wrong in this situations, but I have not known what to do. I went to visit him yesterday, and I found out that one of his key witnesses withdrew as a witness because the district attorney called and threatened this witness that he would lose his job the friday before his trial was to begin.(this witness is a local police officer). Please help. I need to know if and what I can file asap! Any ideas? this judicial system is just a political nightmare, and I am ready to fight back. I need to find a good attorney.

Please help.

[Gryphon]

Yes, there is a limited period in which to file an appeal. The time is usually 30 or 60 days, but I don't know TX criminal procedure.
In addition, some states have a form of sentence recall. (For instance, in CA a Judge still has entence jurisdiction for 120 days.)
If he can't file an appeal, he may still be able to file a writ. Appeals usually are limited to errors of law.
Doing all this withiut a lawyer would require massive amounts of time at your nearest law library. You'd 1st research filing time limits on resentencing, appeals and writs. However, that doesn't tell you how to put together a well supported winning argument.
Since you are arguing things that likley aren't part of the court record, this is going to be expensive if you hire a lawyer. There will be investigation costs on top of the lawyer's fees.

Originally Posted by panda_hughes

Please help. My husband took a plea; however, he did not understand completely what was going on. We did not have a good attorney. He scared my husband into taking a plea; however, it was not right. We were misrepresented. I want to file an appeal or something and need to know if there is a time frame. He was taken into custody on Feb 2. Is it too late? There are so many factors that indicate he was done wrong in this situations, but I have not known what to do. I went to visit him yesterday, and I found out that one of his key witnesses withdrew as a witness because the district attorney called and threatened this witness that he would lose his job the friday before his trial was to begin.(this witness is a local police officer). Please help. I need to know if and what I can file asap! Any ideas? this judicial system is just a political nightmare, and I am ready to fight back. I need to find a good attorney.

Please help.

[judgemenot]

Why doesn't he withdraw his plea? But beware if there is cover up going on he could lose at trial and face a long sentence. He has to decide whether to go to trial and risk a longer sentence or take a plea and serve less time. If he has no witnesses to go to trial with he might want to consider a plea and fight with motions. Or get a very expnesive lawyer who has the repuation to fight at trial and you want to make sure he wins a large majority of cases if you do this. If you take the plea and want to fight with motions PM me. THis is a big decision I use to be an inmate advocate and most all of them who went to trial wish they had taken the plea. One guy got 50 years if he had taken the plea he would have got 7 years. Be careful what they do us wrong our whole system needs revamping but right now you have to deal with what you have. You would have to prove the DA made this cop takea dive. Thats hard to do the DA"S are protected and the judge and courts don't believe a DA would do that esp if the cop says he didn't.

[tinkerbell716]

Originally Posted by panda_hughes

Please help. My husband took a plea; however, he did not understand completely what was going on. We did not have a good attorney. He scared my husband into taking a plea; however, it was not right. We were misrepresented. I want to file an appeal or something and need to know if there is a time frame. He was taken into custody on Feb 2. Is it too late? There are so many factors that indicate he was done wrong in this situations, but I have not known what to do. I went to visit him yesterday, and I found out that one of his key witnesses withdrew as a witness because the district attorney called and threatened this witness that he would lose his job the friday before his trial was to begin.(this witness is a local police officer). Please help. I need to know if and what I can file asap! Any ideas? this judicial system is just a political nightmare, and I am ready to fight back. I need to find a good attorney.

Please help.

In our state the time limit to file an appeal is 30 days from the day of judgment and sentence - - UNLESS the Court does not advise you in the plea colloquy that you are entitled to file an appeal.

Just saw one the other day where the Judge left that part out and the guy got to file a belated appeal. As has been cautioned by others though, be careful when doing that. You need to have the aid of an attorney and it's possible he could qualify for a Public Defender, but make sure that the plea was a "bad" idea and not just "buyer's remorse". Best of luck to you!

[panda_hughes]

our judicial system is just not right! We have decided to file a motion to withdraw the plea... thank you all for your help!!! Judemenot.. I sent you a PM... would love to hear from you! I need to find out all I can so I can be ready!

[Gryphon]

[quote=judgemenot;4542751]"But beware if there is cover up going on he could lose at trial and face a long sentence. He has to decide whether to go to trial and risk a longer sentence or take a plea and serve less time."
True enough. He likely entered that guilty plea for some good reason that STILL might be a good reason. Around 10 times out of 10, a guilty plea is entered for fear that there'll be more time if the plea offer is turned down.

"If he has no witnesses to go to trial with he might want to consider a plea and fight with motions."
Constitutional errors have to be there before a case can be argued and won on motions. These kinds of errors don't happen all the time, and most are quite rare.

"Or get a very expnesive lawyer who has the repuation to fight at trial and you want to make sure he wins a large majority of cases if you do this."
All lawyers are expensive. Some more so than others. What lawyers charge often has nothing to do with how good they are; but has a lot to do with marketing, overhead, and boat payments.
There is no way to quantify a "win", so any attempt at keeping win/loss stats are BS. For instance, going to trial and coming away with a guilty verdict but a sentence that's less than the DA's offer could very well be a powerful win. Going to trial an losing, but coming away with not much worse than the DA's offer to settle the case could be a powerful win. Sometimes, marching into a losing battle and simply coming away with your dignity is a win.
A loss is easier to spot. A case that should have settled, but the lawyer overplays a hand and the client ends up doing much more time: poor risk assement leads to losses. A lawyer who doesn't spot the winning argument can lose.
In this case, no honest lawyer is going to promise that teh pela will be withdrawn. There'll be a record left that shows it was a voluntary plea, and that is always hard to overcome. You should ge t apromise that the transcripts will be reviewed, any written trial waiver will be reviewed, and the trial lawyer will be contacted. Then, the lawyer should review all the police reports and any defense evidence (as well as any pre trial hearings or motions) and offer an opinion about whether the attempt to withdraw the plea is a good idea.

"You would have to prove the DA made this cop take a dive. " This might be the basis for a Habeus. You are correct that it'd be tough to prove (assuming it happened) unless the witness decides to blow the whistle on the DA and does so in a way that preserves the witnesses credibility.

Finally, I caution all concerned about offering and recieving motion help, no mater how well meaning. Paralegals can cross the line into practicing law. Clients can have no remedy if it all goes wrong. People can easily get in deeper than their legal knowledge. I hate to discourage acts of kindness; but caution is called for.

[mica 87]

Thankyou, great info.

[bigredglasses]

Is this a federal case. Ineffective assistance of counsel and involuntary plea may be an issue on a collateral attack, 2255. This must be filed witrhin one year of the date judgment is entered.sent