Sometimes it is better to NOT appeal
Previously I warned you about appealing and the dangers you face if you decide to 
appeal. Read my blog entry on that topic here. A recent case makes my point.
Back in 2008 I won an appeal for Quintin A. Howard. I was able to get him out of his plea. On remand he received a lesser sentence as you can read here. Well a co-defendant of his, Michael A. Minkner had another attorney on appeal and Minker did not raise the issue(s) I raised in Howard's appeal so Minker was stuck with a longer prison term.
If you do not raise issues you could raise on direct appeal, you are generally precluded from raising them later by "res judicata." Minker lost a couple appeals until finally someone noticed that post-release control was not properly imposed on him. He was re-sentenced pursuant to R.C. 2929.191 to fix the PRC. While in front of the trial judge, the State, Minker, and the judge all agreed that Minker's sentence should be reduced by a year. Minker was still not happy with that and so he appealed from that decision.
Problem is, the trial judge had no authority to reduce Minker's sentence at that point - only to fix the PRC problem. On appeal, the Second District Court of Appeals reversed the new sentence. The old, year-longer, sentence remains in effect. Read the decision in State v. Minker, 2011-Ohio-3106, here.
Think before you appeal. You may do yourself more harm than good by appealing.
If you are accused of a crime or have been convicted already, contact me if you can afford to hire a private criminal defense lawyer. Otherwise, contact your county or state public defender to see if they can help.
