Criminal Appeals

Under Rule 4 of the Alabama Rules of Appellate Procedure, you have 42 days from the date of sentencing to file a notice of appeal with the circuit court clerk. This deadline is jurisdictional if it is missed by even one day, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has no power to hear the case, and the right to direct appeal is permanently lost.

The 42-day clock starts at sentencing, not at the jury verdict. If a motion for a new trial is filed within 30 days of sentencing, the 42-day appeal window begins running from the date that motion is denied but the motion for new trial must itself be filed within 30 days of sentencing to toll the clock. These deadlines interact in ways that are easy to miscalculate without experienced appellate counsel.

The notice of appeal itself is simple to file but it must be filed on time. If you or a loved one was recently convicted, contact us immediately. Do not wait.

Alabama appellate courts will review a conviction or sentence when there is a cognizable legal error that affected the outcome. The most common grounds for direct appeal include:

Legal Errors at Trial

Improper admission or exclusion of evidence, incorrect jury instructions, violations of the rules of evidence, prosecutorial misconduct, and errors in the application of Alabama law are all reviewable on direct appeal provided they were properly objected to at trial. Alabama appellate courts generally refuse to hear claims that were not raised before the trial court by a timely and specific objection. This is the doctrine of issue preservation, and it is one of the most critical concepts in Alabama appellate practice.

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

Under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984), a defendant has the constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel. To prevail on this ground, the defendant must show both that trial counsel's performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that the deficient performance prejudiced the outcome. Ineffective assistance claims are typically raised in a Rule 32 post-conviction petition rather than on direct appeal, because the trial record often does not contain the evidence needed to establish what counsel did or failed to do.

Insufficient Evidence

A conviction can be challenged on appeal if the evidence was legally insufficient to support a guilty verdict meaning no rational trier of fact could have found every element of the offense proven beyond a reasonable doubt. This is a high standard, but it is a viable ground where the prosecution's evidence was legally deficient.

Sentencing Errors

If the sentence imposed was not authorized by law, exceeded the statutory maximum, or was based on incorrect information, it can be challenged on appeal. Sentencing errors include improper application of the Habitual Felony Offender Act, failure to give credit for time served, and imposition of conditions not authorized by statute.

When issues cannot be raised on direct appeal — or when new information comes to light after the appeal is concluded — Rule 32 of the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure provides a separate pathway to challenge a conviction.

A Rule 32 petition is filed in the circuit court where the original conviction occurred. It is a separate proceeding from the direct appeal and can address claims that were not and could not have been raised at trial or on direct appeal. Common Rule 32 grounds include:

• Constitutional violations — violations of the U.S. or Alabama Constitution that require a new trial or new sentencing
• Ineffective assistance of counsel — the primary vehicle for raising this claim in most cases
• Newly discovered evidence — evidence that was not available at trial, could not have been discovered with reasonable diligence, and would likely change the outcome
• Lack of jurisdiction — the court that entered the conviction had no legal authority to do so

Filing deadlines for Rule 32 petitions are strict. The petition must generally be filed within one year from the date the conviction became final meaning from the issuance of the certificate of judgment by the Court of Criminal Appeals, or from the date of conviction if no appeal was taken. Newly discovered evidence claims carry a separate six-month deadline from the date the evidence was discovered. Missing these deadlines results in dismissal.

All criminal appeals in Alabama go first to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. If relief is denied there, a party may petition the Alabama Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari. Beyond the state courts, defendants who have exhausted state remedies may file a federal habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in federal district court, raising federal constitutional claims. Federal habeas review is available only after state remedies have been fully exhausted which is one of the most important reasons to pursue every available state appeal promptly and completely.

Appellate law is a distinct specialty from trial practice. Trial attorneys focus on facts, witnesses, and evidence. Appellate attorneys focus on the trial record, legal authority, and written argument. The Alabama Rules of Appellate Procedure impose strict requirements on brief formatting, issue preservation, citation standards, and word counts technical failures can result in issues being deemed waived. Effective appellate strategy also requires identifying the strongest two or three arguments rather than raising every possible error, since courts give less weight to briefs that argue everything at once.

At JB Brown Criminal Trial Practice, we handle both trial and appellate work, which means we understand what must be preserved at trial to remain available on appeal and we can step in at the appellate stage to bring a fresh analytical perspective to the record. For cases that may also involve expungement after post-conviction relief, see our Alabama expungement page.