Appeals to Higher North Carolina Courts
If a case can’t be settled it ultimately goes to trial before a judge or a jury. While judges have a duty to be fair, sometimes things happen at the trial that go wrong. If the wrong is serious enough, the party that is affected by the wrong can appeal the case.
Appeals are heard by the North Carolina Court of Appeals. There are fifteen judges who sit on three judge panels. The Court of Appeals does not retry the case. Only claims that involve legal errors at trial can be appealed. Legal errors can occur when a point of procedure was handled incorrectly by the Judge or there is a claim that the Court applied the law incorrectly.
The following are some of the most common of the above-mentioned errors:
- The jury was instructed improperly;
- The Judge overruled a valid objection on a material point;
- A valid juror was disqualified;
- A proper witness was not allowed to testify;
- Evidence was excluded by the Court that should not have been excluded;
- Evidence was allowed in that should have been excluded.
Appeals to the North Carolina Supreme Court can also be taken under certain conditions:
- If one of the three judges at the North Carolina Court of Appeals dissents.
- If the North Carolina Supreme Court decides, through its own discretion, that it wants to hear the appeal. An example of why they might want to hear the case (even if the lower court didn’t dissent) is because there’s an important legal issue they think the whole state should know about.
The North Carolina Supreme Court has seven Justices. There is one Chief Justice who guides the proceedings. The NC Supreme Court meets in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Contact a North Carolina Lawyer for Help Today
Attorney Joe Miller will fight for you from the initial call to trial and appeals, if warranted. He’s been trying cases in North Carolina and Virginia for over 25 years and in this time he has helped thousands of clients. He is qualified to appear in all relevant Courts in both States. To learn more about what our legal team may be able to do for you, contact Joe Miller Law, today by calling (888) 694-1671.