Legal Question in Criminal Law in Ohio

Re: filing appeals

In most cases, one may appeal from the trial court to the court of appeals. This is called "an appeal of right" and the court of appeals must hear the case.

If you do not like the decision of the court of appeals, you can ask the Ohio Supreme Court to hear the case. This is called a "discretionary appeal" because the Ohio Supreme Court has the discretion to refuse to hear the appeal.

If the Ohio Supreme Court refuses to hear the case (or, after they hear it, you do not like the result) you may ask the United States Supreme Court to address any federal constitutional questions involved in the case. This is also a "discretionary appeal" because the United States Supreme Court does not have to hear the case.

After that, there are various collateral attacks on the conviction and sentence. While these are not "appeals" in a techical legal sense, most lay-people think of them as "appeals." They include a state post-conviction petition and federal habeas corpus.

Every step of the way involves a time deadline --- one that will normally be strictly enforced. Failure to file the correct document within the proper time period could result in a court refusing to hear the appeal, even in so-called "appeal of right" cases.