Q: During a criminal Appeal in Michigan, can the fact that expert testimony was not called by the defenseor the fact that
some motions were not filed in time, or there was no evidence to support the conviction, or new evidence was discovered all be the basis for the appeal?
A:
You may want to post that question under a topic related to criminal law because an attorney who handles civil appeals may not have the applicable experience. I don't handle criminal appeals and I cannot entirely answer your questions.
The first two issues, not calling an expert witness and not filing timely motions, go to the issue of adequate representation. I do not know what steps may be required to preserve this issue for appeal.
The lack of evidence to support the conviction is a basis for an appeal.
I believe that newly discovered evidence must be the subject of a motion asking the trial court to consider that evidence before it is a basis for an appeal. Check with a criminal-defense attorney on that point to confirm that this is the case for a criminal matter.
A: All the issues you stated could be argued on the initial direct appeal of the conviction . . . except for the discovery of new evidence (which in most instances is brought in a 6500 motion for post conviction relief). However, depending on what the new evidence is, you might have a way to make it an issue in the initial direct appeal . . . for example if trial counsel was ineffective for not uncovering it.
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