Even after a defendant is found guilty, he can “appeal” the sentence if he believes he was treated unfairly during trial. An appeal is not another trial but an opportunity for the defendant to try to prove that something was not originally handled correctly at trial. Often, an appeal is handled by a different prosecutor than the one who tried the original case.

An appeal is not heard by the same judge who heard the trial. On each appeal, three circuit court judges review the case and the reasons why the defendant believes that something was done wrong at trial, then the three judges render a decision on the appeal and inform all parties in the case. The United States is divided into 13 Circuit Court regions with “Circuit Court Judges;” it is one of these judges who presides over an appeal.

 

The United States Supreme Court—the highest appellate court in the Federal court system—makes the final decision concerning a defendant’s appeal.

Pictures and biography of U.S. Supreme Court Justices.

Click here to learn how court cases are appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Allotment of Justices for Caseload Distribution
District of Columbia Circuit	William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice
First Circuit	David H. Souter, Associate Justice
Second Circuit	Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice
Third Circuit	David H. Souter, Associate Justice
Fourth Circuit	William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice
Fifth Circuit	Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice
Sixth Circuit	John Paul Stevens, Associate Justice
Seventh Circuit	John Paul Stevens, Associate Justice
Eighth Circuit	Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice
Ninth Circuit	Sandra Day O’Connor, Associate Justice
Tenth Circuit	Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice
Eleventh Circuit	Anthony M. Kennedy, Associate Justice
Federal Circuit	William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice
Distribution established September 30, 1994.