Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Is the right of appeal in criminal court cases only for defendants or can the prosecution appeal an acquital?

The prosecution can not appeal a not-guilty verdict, even if it appears that there is no rational basis for the not-guilty verdict.





By statute a state may give the prosecution the right to appeal rulings by the judge not amounting to a not-guilty verdict. For example, the prosecution could appeal a finding by a judge that the amount stolen was less than the minimum for grand theft. Or, the prosecution may have the right to appeal the sentence given on the grounds it was too lenient or not authorized by law.Is the right of appeal in criminal court cases only for defendants or can the prosecution appeal an acquital?
no, i believe that only defendants have the right to appeal in a criminal court.Is the right of appeal in criminal court cases only for defendants or can the prosecution appeal an acquital?
Nobody appeals an acquittal - neither suspect nor prosecution.
Only the defendants may appeal a verdict.





If the prosecution tried it would be re-trying the same case. That is not allowed and is referred to as double jeopardy.
I would imagine only the prosecution would appeal an acquital...


I've never heard of a defendant appealing their own innocence!





I cannot imagine the exact circumstances where the prosecution could appeal... Some illegality during the trial that swayed the outcome, not sure. It is not common or likely, though.
If the defendant was found NOT guilty, then NO! (Double Jeopardy Clause of the US Constitution)





If the trial was Hung, yes, or if the case was just tossed out for whatever reasons, yes.
A prosecutor cannot appeal from a judgment of acquittal. However, in most states a prosecutor can appeal from an order of dismissal based on something other than the adequacy of the evidence adduced at trial.
The prosecution has every right of appeal, they do not usually because they have screwed up the case and/or do not have enough proof to win the case. But if they feel the Judge has made a bad decision in limiting what they can say or present, they can appeal. But for a appeal to even be heard, they have to have a pretty strong argument of why a mistake or error was made.
You cannot try someone for the same crime twice - that's called double jeopardy.
If the prosecution tried to appeal an aquittal, it would be called ';double jeopardy'; -- in other words, a person can only be tried for a specific crime once. Even if he gets aquitted and confesses his guilt, it's too late. The legal system will have to catch him doing something else bad.

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