Guide to Post-Conviction Relief Options in Washington State
After being convicted and sentenced for a crime, it can feel like your case is over. However, cases are not truly over if there are still outstanding legal questions that call into question whether your trial was fair or your conviction is just.
The law creates a few different avenues for relief, including “direct appeals” and various forms of “collateral attacks” or “post-conviction relief.” Our attorneys can help you fight even when it looks like the fight is over, potentially getting you a new trial or vacating the old conviction on legal, factual, or constitutional grounds.
Call the Law Offices of Smith & White’s Washington post-conviction lawyers now at (253) 525-8036 to discuss your case.
Types of Post-Conviction Relief
When you are convicted and sentenced, there are still a few options to get your conviction overturned or get a new trial:
Direct Appeals
Everyone gets the chance to appeal their conviction for legal errors.
Issues must be preserved during trial by objecting or filing motions the judge denies. Instead of stopping the case and asking a court for review after each objection or denied suppression motion, you wait until the case is over to take those issues to a higher court for review.
The Court of Appeals can overturn convictions based on these and other legal mistakes:
- Improperly denied evidentiary motions
- Improperly denied objections to witness testimony
- Improper court procedures
- Improper jury instructions
- Denied expert witnesses.
Petition for Review
If your direct appeal loses in the Court of Appeals, you can petition the Washington Supreme Court to hear your case. Unlike the Court of Appeals, having your case heard is not guaranteed; the Supreme Court can deny your petition if they think the issue was settled properly.
In some cases, you can appeal beyond the state Supreme Court to the U.S. Supreme Court, especially for issues dealing with the constitutionality of your conviction.
Collateral Attacks and Post-Conviction Relief
Many states have various post-conviction relief petitions that can be filed for issues other than what happened at your trial. These “collateral attacks” deal with legal issues surrounding the trial and the overall legality of your conviction.
There are multiple types of collateral attacks our Washington post-conviction lawyers can pursue, some of which are listed below.
Personal Restraint Petition
A personal restraint petition is the petition filed for post-conviction relief based on legal or constitutional issues. These collateral attacks include issues outside the direct courtroom, not questions of whether rulings were proper. These issues focus on violations of constitutional rights that made the trial or conviction illegal or unfair.
These are some common examples of grounds for post-conviction relief under a personal restraint petition:
- Ineffective assistance of counsel
- Newly discovered evidence, such as someone else confessing to the crime
- New scientific evidence, such as DNA discoveries
- Discoveries that the prosecution withheld evidence that could have proven your innocence in violation of Brady v. Maryland
- New constitutional amendments or U.S. Supreme Court rulings
- Discoveries of problems with jurisdiction or constitutionality, such as finding out your charges violated the Double Jeopardy Clause.
Most of these petitions need to be filed within 1 year of the end of your original case, though extended filing deadlines are granted for new discoveries, changes to the law, and constitutional/jurisdictional issues.
Habeas Corpus
Habeas corpus petitions are essentially petitions to turn over an illegally held prisoner. These petitions are not as broadly useful as personal restraint petitions and direct appeals and instead cover rare situations, such as a failure to release a prisoner after their conviction has been vacated.
Federal law also gives a right to file habeas corpus petitions in federal court, but you usually need to exhaust all state relief options first.
Motion to Vacate Judgment
A motion to vacate judgment is potentially filed along with other post-conviction motions, but it is one of the specific procedural tools we need in many appellate cases. This petition allows you to fight errors and fraud, as well as actually request that the court remove your guilty verdict and grant you a new trial.
Motion for a New Trial
Along with a motion to vacate, a motion for a new trial is the formal request to try your case again. In many post-conviction relief cases, “winning” does not mean that you beat the charges but rather that you undid the conviction and set the case back to the pre-trial stage.
Getting a new trial essentially means you won your appeal.
If the prosecution still wants to convict you, they need to try again, following the law this time. However, many prosecutors are willing to negotiate pleas or even drop the charges at this stage, especially if you already spent significant time in prison or your post-conviction petitions proved your factual innocence.
Expunging, Sealing, and Vacating Convictions
Once you have a record of conviction, it remains with you. That can make it harder to find work or get accepted into college. Having your record sealed or vacated/expunged can remove that obstacle.
Juvenile records are usually “sealed” when you become an adult, meaning no one can see them or use them against you. Adult records can also be “sealed” in rare instances.
Otherwise, convictions can be “vacated” to remove them from your record in what we informally call “expungement.” This usually means serving all time, paying all fines, and waiting a certain amount of time before requesting expungement.
If you have repeat convictions or additional convictions after the one you want to vacate, expungement might be blocked. Some crimes cannot be vacated or expunged, such as serious violent crimes.
Other Sentencing Modifications
Some punishments extend beyond your jail time or probation, such as restrictions on your right to own a firearm or requirements to register on the sex offender registry. Once the time limit expires, our lawyers can file to have these restrictions lifted.
Call Our Post-Conviction Relief Attorneys in Washington State Today
Have the Washington post-conviction lawyers at Smith & White review your case by calling (253) 525-8036.