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Was your or your loved one’s appeal just denied?

You may have one more option for relief. Habeas Corpus, or Post Conviction Relief Motions, have evolved to become the appeal after the appeal for individuals convicted of crimes. A habeas petition is filed after an appeal has been denied. Habeas petitions normally trigger civil proceedings, even though the subject matter are of criminal trials, therefore, it is an extremely specialized practice requiring familiarity with both areas. Contact us today to discuss your case.

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Habeas petitions (known by various names in the states and as §2255 or §2254 motions in the federal system) can allege different issues ranging from ineffective assistance of counsel, to a change in law which could now benefit the defendant post-trial or appeal. Since habeas petitions typically allege that the defendant’s previous attorney(s) were ineffective in some way, the attorney reviewing the case would need to know what to look for to make that ineffectiveness claim. In addition, knowledge of the procedures involved in habeas practice distinguish the handful of attorneys who regularly handle habeas petitions from those who do not—including the inmates who try to represent themselves in court.

Before taking on a habeas case, an attorney charges a fee to review the case. In order to review the case, the attorney would need to obtain the case file from the defendant’s former attorney(s) and also the file from the district attorney’s office. Call Mark today to discuss your or your loved one’s case and to find out the fee to review the case.

Habeas Corpus & Post Conviction Relief FAQs

I’ve compiled a list of questions I am often asked during an initial consultation of a case or throughout my representation and/or review of a case. These answers are general responses and should in no way deter you from calling me even if you find a specific answer to your question. Every case is different and unique. Before you decide that your chance is gone and not worth pursuing, call me so we can discuss.

A habeas/PCR petition is normally the last full opportunity a prisoner has to explore the facts and circumstances underlying their conviction, whether that was through a plea or after a trial. Habeas/PCR petitions normally represent the last, best chance a prisoner has obtain relief from their conviction, so a prisoner should consider filing a petition if he or she believes that there is a legitimate legal reason why they should not be forced to serve the balance of their sentence.
The limitations period for filing a habeas petition varies depending on the jurisdiction where it is filed. In Georgia, a petitioner normally has four years from the date their direct appeal was denied to file a habeas petition, but in Virginia, a petitioner only has one year to file a similar petition. In the federal system, a prisoner, whether convicted in state court or federal court, normally has one year to file a habeas petition.
Prisoners who were convicted in federal court can only seek relief in the federal courts, but prisoners with state convictions potentially can seek relief in either state or federal court. Federal law requires that most grounds for relief that state prisoner can raise must first have been raised in a state court and that a state appellate court has at least had the opportunity to review those grounds before they can be raised in a federal habeas petition. This means that normally state prisoners should go through the state post-conviction process before taking their case to federal court.
Although the law governing federal habeas actions normally requires state prisoners to raise and appeal (i.e. exhaust) all issues in the state system first, realistically the prisoner and his attorney(s) will not be able to get through that entire process in a year or less. The federal system acknowledges this by tolling the filing time for a federal habeas action once a state habeas action has been properly filed. “Tolling” just means that the clock stops ticking. So, for example, if a habeas petitioner files a state action six months after their conviction becomes final and does not prevail in their state proceedings or on appeal, he or she will still have six months to file a federal action.
Some states (e.g. Georgia) allow habeas petitioners more than one year to file a petition. If a state prisoner takes longer than one year to initiate habeas proceedings, he will normally lose the opportunity to file a federal habeas action, even if he has timely filed a state habeas action. This does not affect the state proceedings, but it does mean that he or she will not have the chance to go to the feds if their state action is unsuccessful.
Nobody can forecast the result of a habeas case. Whether or not a court will grant a petition depends on many factors beyond the strength of the case the petitioner has filed.
Most states do not set time limits within which courts must make a decision in a habeas case. Typically after the parties present evidence and, if there is a hearing, a hearing is held, the court will subsequently issue a written order explaining its decision and the legal basis for it. Decisions can come within a matter of days or can take many months and neither party has the ability to force a court to make a decision, absent a rule or law that requires it to do so.
Most jurisdictions allow petitioners to attempt to appeal an adverse habeas decision. In many jurisdictions, the appeal is discretionary, meaning the losing party has to ask the appellate court to consider the appeal and the appellate court has to agree to do so before an appeal can even be filed.
A defendant who wins a habeas case cannot receive a more severe sentence after a subsequent trial just because he or she won their habeas case. The law does allow a sentencing court to impose a more severe sentence if it is able to articulate additional factors which were not considered in the first sentence as the motivation for raising the sentence, but cannot do so merely because the defendant won a habeas case which resulted in a second trial/sentencing.
It is helpful to think of winning a habeas case as getting into a time machine: winning a habeas case normally means that a petitioner will be placed back in the exact same position as they were in the day before they were convicted and sent to prison. Depending on the jurisdiction, that may mean that the state can bring additional charges related to the same incident when it goes back to the trial court.

Most jurisdictions not only permit, but require, the prisoner to attend his habeas hearing, if there is a hearing.

Not all habeas proceedings are open to the public. Some jurisdictions even hold habeas hearings in the prison where the prisoner is being held. In such circumstances, attorneys, witnesses and court personnel will be present at a hearing, but not family. However, if a habeas hearing is held in a normal courtroom, typically the public, including families, may attend.
No. Normally a prisoner is required to exhaust their direct appeals before filing a habeas petition anyway and, even if they were not required to do so, it would be the advisable course of action in just about any conceivable set of circumstances.
Petitioners who are in prison when they file a habeas action are not entitled to be released while the action is pending.
Normally, habeas petitions are restricted to claims that a prisoner’s constitutional rights are being violated. Most often, prisoners claim that their right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, or a parallel state constitutional provision, has been violated because the prisoner’s trial, appellate or plea counsel was ineffective in representing him or her for one reason or another. Issues which were already raised in an appeal or issues which were previously waived normally cannot be raised, but waived issues may form the basis for a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.
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