Can You Appeal if You Took a Plea Bargain or Plea Deal?
If you go to trial and the outcome of your criminal trial is not what you had expected and you believe there has been an error, you can appeal your guilty verdict. But for many—actually, most—criminal defendants, there is no trial because they take a plea deal. That plea deal often will entail entering a plea of guilty in return for a lowered sentence.
But can you appeal even if you had no trial, because you pleaded guilty as part of a plea bargain?
Usually, you cannot, because the terms of most plea deals require that you waive your right to an appeal. Whether waiving that right or not is a good idea is something to discuss with your attorney. But if you do take the deal, your right to appeal is generally cut off—with some exceptions.
Read on as our Louisiana appeals attorney explains more about this below.
Sentencing Errors
One exception is your sentence; often, people may plead guilty or no contest to a crime, and that cannot be appealed. But then they are sentenced for what they just pleaded guilty or no contest to, and something about the sentence or the procedure of giving you the sentence is legally incorrect.
That can be appealed—as a general rule, a waiver of appeal for the crime itself is not a waiver of the right to appeal a sentence you think is unfair or procedurally incorrect.
Errors in the Plea Process
Another exception is where, somehow, the process of taking your plea deal was, on its own, incorrect, corrupt, or violated your rights.
For example, although difficult to prove, you could appeal a plea bargain by saying that your attorney was inefficient, or that the state lied to you to mislead you into taking a plea deal (for example, by withholding or hiding crucial evidence that would have altered your decision to take a plea deal).
When you take a plea deal, the judge is required to read certain rights to you to make sure that you are knowingly and intelligently waiving your rights to a trial. A judge must, for example, make sure that you understand what you’re doing, make sure you’re competent to take a plea deal, or make sure you understand the rights you may be waiving by taking the plea deal.
Judges have to tell you if there’s any mandatory minimum sentence and, if so, what that sentence is. They also have to tell you of any other consequences—for example, risks for deportation if you take the plea deal.
It sometimes happens that a judge doesn’t do that, or does it incorrectly, and that’s something in the process of a plea bargain that could be appealed.
Lack of Mental Capacity
Although rare, there are times when someone simply lacks the mental capacity to understand the plea deal that they accepted.
While the judge should check for this when accepting the plea deal, some do a more thorough job of this than others, and it does happen that someone who is not mentally sound, either permanently or temporarily, ends up taking a plea deal they couldn't possibly understand, and that’s something that can be appealed as well.
Contact the Law Offices of Philip B. Adams today. We are top-rated, relentless, and aggressive Louisiana criminal defense lawyers. Complete our "Contact Us" page here. You may significantly benefit by having an attorney with legal competence and experience assist you with your Louisiana criminal case. We have offices in Shreveport and handle criminal defense cases throughout Louisiana.