Unit 3 IP.

In a criminal trial based on the rights outlined within the Bill of Rights an appeal can be made after a ruling has been handed down by the judge. This appeal is done as a result of the defendant and his representative having the view point that justice was not served or some aspect of his or her rights have been violated or that there were some errors in the carrying out of their due process as it relates to the first 10 amendments of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights. Another basis for appeal would be the omission of nay portion of due process. Once again, the defendant will need to point out and prove that due process has been denied, omitted or encroached on which would result in an infringement of the right encapsulated in the 14th amendment, the due process clause. The verdict handed down to a defendant in a state trial can be appealed and subsequent to due process of the initial appeal and verdict or judgment is delivered, the defendant still has another opportunity to appeal the second decision given by the appellate court as a last resort. The initial appeal is usually submitted to the Intermediate Court of Appeals which are found in 39 of the United States of America. In the state of Florida, there are 5 Intermediate Courts of Appeals which are also called District Courts of Appeals (DCA). As we may know, these courts’ function as a fine-toothed comb, ensuring that every aspect of the law as consistent with the constitution has been duly observed in relation to a defendant’s rights and liberties outlined in the Bill of Rights. Depending on the jurisdiction of the lower court the relative district court will then be selected for any course of appeals. In Florida, the courts of appeal are located in Tallahassee, Lakeland, Miami, West Palm Beach and Daytona Beach respectively. Although there is a possibility for an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, then the U.S. Supreme Court as a final resort as it relates to litigated cases, it is a general rule that the decisions of the DCA represents the final appellate review. Most cases submitted for appeal to the Florida Supreme Court or the U.S. Supreme Court that has already received ruling from the DCA is essentially denied.
(Ref 1: www.flcourts.org) In the state of Florida, due to the size of the state, most of the cases submitted for appeal are never handled by the Florida Supreme Court or the U.S. Supreme court as the DCA have been empowered to function as the supreme courts would. The same processes employed to select Supreme Court Justices are used when selecting District Court Justices thus affording the Justices of the DCA the same authority as those in the Supreme Court. This step taken to