Question
What is an appeal?
Answer
An appeal is a process whereby the court of appeals checks over what the juvenile court did. The court of appeals has more power than the juvenile court. This means that the court of appeals might possibly change what the juvenile court did. But the court of appeals won’t change the outcome of a case unless the juvenile court made a substantial legal mistake. The court of appeals won’t change the outcome of a case just because someone is unhappy.
Appeals take a long time, generally at least six months. It is very unlikely that the court of appeals will change anything until the appeal ends, and only then if the person wins. Thus, if a person is incarcerated and then appeals, he will stay incarcerated during the appeals process. It also is very unlikely that the court of appeals will change child custody arrangements until an appeal ends, and only then if the person wins the appeal.
If you want an appeal, you only have 15 days from the end of your court case to start the appeal. If you want longer, then you can’t appeal. Also, your lawyer can’t start an appeal for you until you talk to your lawyer about it after court makes a final order.
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