Appeals / Post-Conviction

Post-conviction relief is a general term related to appeals of criminal convictions, which may include release, motions for new trial, setting aside or vacating the plea or the conviction, modification of the sentence or the conviction, 6500 Motions, Habeas Corpus petitions, and other equitable or statutory claims which may be available, depending on the jurisdiction where the party was convicted, and where he/she is in prison.

Post-conviction relief can also be achieved by collateral attack, literally outside the judgment. This type of claim, most commonly filed as a federal habeas corpus petition, seeks to challenge a judgment of conviction which has otherwise become final in the normal appellate review process in the state or federal courts.

In Michigan, the legislature has provided MCR 6.500 et. seq. as the only method of challenging an improperly entered plea or conviction taken in violation of one's constitutional rights. In such a motion, ineffective assistance of counsel is often the strongest basis for seeking post-conviction relief. If your trial attorney was not effective, or committed malpractice in some way, you can challenge the validity of your conviction, your confinement, or any detriment that remains upon you.

My law office actively pursues aggressive and unconventional post conviction strategies, seeking relief first in the trial courts, and later, if necessary, in the courts of appeals, then, finally, in federal court. We prefer to be retained as close in time to the date of conviction as possible. Motions for new trials can then be filed and crucial evidentiary issues, issues of ineffective assistance of counsel, and other challenges can be made in front of the trial judge. Once retained, we obtain transcripts of all pretrial and trial proceedings and scour the record to determine what action should have been taken, or what action was taken ineffectively, on behalf of the accused. Depending on the facts, the case and the client, no case is too old. We have been successful in obtaining post-conviction relief years, and sometimes decades, after the conviction. Trial courts are obligated to preserve the record via written or recorded means. It is an extremely rare case that does not have some error at some point in the proceedings. It is my job in such cases to find that error, show how it was not harmless error, and work to vacate/set aside the conviction, get you a new trial, or, as is more often than not the case, a plea to a reduced crime with no or lesser consequences to the accused.

If you have a conviction on your record that affects your immigration status, your employment, or if you simply feel that you were wrongfully convicted, the Law Office of Laurence H. Margolis, P.C. can help you look into challenging it, restoring your rights, your liberty, your life.

Call my law office if you need help filing a motion for new trial, 6500 Motion, or if you want to appeal a conviction. Please remember that if the convicted fails to act quickly he/she will lose valuable rights to appeal or challenge the conviction or plea.