Arizona Criminal Appeals Lawyer

Posted on May 1, 2026 in Criminal Defense

If you have been convicted of a criminal charge in Arizona, a criminal appeals lawyer can help you evaluate whether you have grounds to seek higher-level judicial review of your case. AZ Defenders has experienced criminal appeals lawyers who can help you through this process.

Here, we examine how the criminal defense appeals process works in Arizona.

Why Choose AZ Defenders For Your Criminal Appeal?

If you have already lost your case at the trial court level, then the importance of having the best possible legal counsel on appeal becomes paramount.

Appeals cases in Arizona involve tight deadlines and a detailed understanding of which path of appeal to take: direct appeal and/or post-conviction relief (PCR). Each is a distinct path with its own set of rules.

There is no jury, and your lawyer must make the most effective possible use of the existing trial court record in an appeal. In post-conviction relief, your attorney can add documents from outside the record to support certain claims.

You have very little room for error at this level.

AZ Defenders criminal appeals attorneys are not just skilled trial defense lawyers; we also have extensive experience providing legal representation to clients at the appellate level in the Arizona judicial system, and presenting persuasive arguments to appeals court jurists to establish a case for reversible error that can give you a new trial or even vacate a conviction.

If you have been found guilty of a crime in Arizona or need more information on this topic, call AZ Defenders at (480) 456-6400 or use our online contact form to reach out to one of our criminal appeal attorneys.

What Does a Criminal Appeals Lawyer Do?

A criminal direct appeals lawyer is different from the trial lawyer who represented you in the courtroom. Instead of calling witnesses or arguing to a jury, an appeals lawyer works from the record of what already happened at trial.

Here are some of the things a criminal appeals lawyer does for you:

Reviews your entire trial record to look for legal errors the trial court made
Identifies which issues were preserved for appeal, and which were not
Researches case law and statutes to build the strongest legal argument in your favor
Drafts the opening brief, reply brief, and any motions filed with the appeals court
Presents oral argument to the appeals court panel if the court grants it
Pursues other forms of relief, like post-conviction relief, when a direct appeal is not available

As well as the work a criminal appeals lawyer does in a direct appeal, in a post-conviction relief petition, a criminal appeals lawyer does additional things for you, if warranted:

Investigate facts that never made it into the trial record that could have changed the outcome
Add documents proving those facts to the trial record
Present evidence in a hearing to prove its existence.

Because direct appeals are decided almost entirely on written briefs and the trial record, appellate work is very different from trial work. Post-Conviction Relief petitions tend to include a trial hybrid for developing facts outside the record. In both cases, the presumption of innocence disappears, and your appellate lawyer has the burden of proof. Hiring an appellate lawyer who understands this distinction can make a real difference in your criminal case.

Trial vs. Appeal vs. PCR: What Are the Differences?

A trial, an appeal, and a petition for post-conviction relief are three very different proceedings, and confusing them can lead to unrealistic expectations about what an appeal or PCR can accomplish.

A trial is where your guilt or innocence is decided in the first place. At trial:

Witnesses testify in person.
Physical evidence and exhibits are introduced.
A judge or jury weighs that evidence and reaches a verdict.
Your defense attorney can object, cross-examine witnesses, and call defense witnesses on your behalf.

An appeal is not a second chance to fight the facts of your case. At an appeal:

No new evidence is presented, and no witnesses testify.
The appeals court reviews the trial court’s written record, along with briefs from both sides.
A panel of judges, not a jury, considers the case for legal errors.
The question is not whether you are guilty, but whether legal mistakes at trial affected the outcome.

Put simply, trials decide facts, while appeals review the law. A criminal appeals lawyer focuses on that second question.

A PCR allows only certain claims for relief, but it is the only route to challenge a conviction by plea agreement, constitutional claims that need further development of the record, and ineffective assistance of counsel.

Are You Eligible to Appeal Your Criminal Conviction?

Generally, you may only file a direct appeal after a trial conviction. However, you may file a PCR if further issues remain outside the trial record that entitle you to relief, if your conviction is the result of a plea bargain, and certain other reasons.

If you have been sentenced to death, then your appeal goes straight to the Arizona Supreme Court.

This requirement for a conviction is an important consideration, because many criminal convictions result from plea deals in which the accused pleads guilty to a lesser charge and waives the right to appeal.

How Much Time Do You Have to File an Appeal?

You must file a notice of appeal within 20 days after entry of judgment and sentence in a felony case, but you only have 14 days to file a notice of appeal in misdemeanor cases. There are some narrowly defined exceptions, so you should talk to an experienced criminal appeals lawyer even if you have missed your filing deadline.

How to Appeal a Criminal Conviction: Common Grounds

Not all mistakes made during your trial are legal issues that justify an appeal. If a mistake was what courts refer to as a “harmless error,” this is not usually something that an appeals court will accept.

Examples of harmless errors include minor comments by prosecutors, accidental exposure to a document not admitted as evidence, minor evidentiary mistakes, small procedural missteps, or errors in jury instructions that do not misstate the law or shift the burden of proof.

To be reversible, an error must have affected the verdict. The exact prejudice standard varies depending on the type of error.

Here are some kinds of trial court errors that can have a prejudicial effect on you:

Errors by the judge, like improper admission or exclusion of evidence, incorrect rulings on motions, or biased or improper conduct
Mistakes by the prosecution, like improper legal arguments or withholding exculpatory evidence from the jury
Juror misconduct, like jurors conducting their own research outside of court, discussing the case with outsiders, concealing bias during jury selection, or considering evidence that was not admitted at trial
Ineffective assistance of counsel, like failing to investigate your case, failing to make key objections, or a poor trial strategy that falls below constitutional standards, can only be raised in PCR.
Improper jury instructions, such as an illegal search or seizure of evidence, or Miranda rights violations
Violations of your constitutional rights, like an illegal search or seizure of evidence, or Miranda rights violations

What Can the Appeals Court Review?

The appeals court does not accept new evidence when it considers your appeal. Nor can it reweigh the evidence, or retry the case. Instead, the appeals court must take the trial court’s record as the sole basis for its review. This record includes:

Transcripts of trial proceedings
Motions and rulings
Exhibits introduced as evidence
Jury instructions
The sentencing record

Your trial court criminal defense attorney must also preserve issues for the appeals court to review. What this means is that your lawyer must raise the issue during your trial and make a timely objection.

If your attorney does not do this, then the appeals court can still consider your appeal under what is known as a “fundamental error review,” but this is a harder standard to win your appeal under.

Possible Appeal Outcomes

If the appeals court considers your appeal, then it may reach any of the following rulings:

It can affirm your conviction.
It can reverse your conviction.
It can remand your case to the trial court for a new trial.
It can modify your sentence.
It can dismiss your appeal based on procedural defects.

Post-Conviction Relief as an Alternative to Appeal

As we mentioned above, a criminal appeals case depends on you being convicted at trial. But what if instead you reached a plea deal or otherwise pled guilty? In these situations, post-conviction relief may be available to you.

The reason why Arizona allows for post-conviction relief is that although a trial conviction produces a full record for appellate review, a guilty plea waives most of your trial-related rights, including the right to appeal. Post-conviction relief allows you to still challenge your conviction under certain circumstances, including:

You received ineffective assistance of counsel.
Newly discovered evidence exists.
You claim actual innocence.
You were illegally sentenced.
The court lacked jurisdiction over you.
There has been a significant change in the law.

Who Can File for Post-Conviction Relief?

There are two main paths to request post-conviction relief, depending on how your case ended:

One form is if your criminal case went to trial, or you had a contested probation-violation hearing, or you have completed a direct appeal.
The other is if you pled guilty, or no contest, or admitted to a probation violation. Because Arizona law does not allow for direct appeals after guilty pleas, this kind of post-conviction relief is the only way you can challenge a conviction in a plea deal.

Time to File For Post-Conviction Relief (PCR)

Compared to a criminal appeal, you have more time to seek post-conviction relief. Most post-conviction relief notices must be filed within 30 or 90 days, but certain claims, like newly discovered evidence or significant changes in the law, may be filed at any time.

Even if you have missed the deadline to file, you need to talk to an experienced appeals attorney who can tell you if it is possible to succeed on an untimely petition for post-conviction relief. Recent case law has made it easier to get the court to consider untimely or successive petitions for post-conviction relief.

After you file your notice, you then file the petition for post-conviction relief. In your petition, you must include all the grounds for which you seek relief, facts that support each claim for relief, evidence like transcripts, affidavits, and court records, and a legal memorandum that explains how your facts support your relief claims.

People who hire a seasoned PCR lawyer are far more successful in their PCRs than those who try to navigate it on their own. Your PCR lawyer can explore issues with you and even investigate things your trial or plea attorney did not.

Limits on How Many Times You Can Request Post-Conviction Relief

Generally, you cannot re‑raise the same issue in a later post-conviction relief petition, but certain types of claims may be raised in successive petitions.

Trial Court Review

The trial court will review your petition to see if it makes a “colorable claim” for relief. What this means is that if the claims you make are true, they would undermine confidence in the conviction. The court will then hold an evidentiary hearing to test the truth of the claims. If the claimed facts hold up, the court may:

Vacate your conviction
Order a new trial
Modify or reduce your sentence
Grant other appropriate relief

If the trial court denies you relief, then you may still seek review by the Arizona Court of Appeals.

Summary of How Appeals Differ From Post-Conviction Relief

The table below compares criminal appeals with post-conviction relief in key respects.

Feature	Direct Appeal	Post‑Conviction Relief (PCR)
Who Can File	You were convicted at trial	You pled guilty, or have already completed a direct appeal from your conviction at trial
Deadline to File	20 days after sentencing to file Notice of Appeal in a felony14 days after sentencing to file Notice of Appeal in a misdemeanor	90 days after sentencing (plea cases) or 30 days after mandate (post‑appeal cases)
Purpose	Review legal errors made during trial	Challenge constitutional violations, ineffective assistance, newly discovered evidence, illegal sentences, or develop additional evidence
What the Court Reviews	Only the trial record (transcripts, motions, exhibits)	Can consider new evidence, affidavits, expert reports, etc.
Can Raise Ineffective Assistance of Counsel?	No, must be raised in post-conviction relief	Yes, the primary vehicle for ineffective assistance of counsel claims
Can Raise New Evidence?	No	Yes
Standard of Review	Abuse of discretion, harmless error, fundamental error, structural error	Abuse of discretion or error plus prejudice
Outcome Possibilities	Affirm, reverse, remand, modify sentence	Dismissal of petition, vacate conviction, new trial, resentencing, or other relief
Typical Issues Raised	Improper jury instructions Evidentiary errors Prosecutorial misconduct Constitutional violations Sentencing errors	Ineffective assistance of counsel Newly discovered evidenceActual innocenceIllegal sentenceLack of jurisdictionSignificant change in the law
Who Hears the Case	Arizona Court of Appeals (or Arizona Supreme Court for death penalty cases)	Trial court (Superior Court), with possible petition for review to the Court of Appeals
Record Expansion Allowed?	No	Yes
Availability After Plea Deal	No direct appeal after a guilty plea	Post-conviction relief is the only avenue after a plea deal

Talk to an Arizona Criminal Appeals Lawyer About Your Conviction

AZ Defenders has experienced criminal appeal attorneys who can help you seek review of any conviction in the criminal justice system, including trial convictions or plea deals, through the formal appellate court process or post-conviction relief.

If you were wrongfully convicted of a criminal offense, an AZ Defenders appellate lawyer can take your case. Call our law offices at (480) 456-6400 to discuss your appeal options with one of our appellate lawyers in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, or Show Low, or reach us online to schedule a free consultation at our law offices.