Q: If we add to an item on a denied appeal for the Supreme Court can we never use that item again in any further appeals
Regretfully we filed an appeal on a criminal decision ourselves without understanding the complexity of it, and very sadly our court appointed appeal lawyer wasn't helpful or even reachable. The appeal was denied for one thing and now going to Supreme Court in Michigan. Our question is can we add into the denied item on the appeal with more information and completely change the topic of explanation? Is that allowed? Or should we submit the denied appeal as is?
And the most important question of all is, if you are able to only answer one is: if we add to that topic would we still be able to use that same item/topic in future motions?
A:
Did you also file what's called a Standard 4 brief? Listing issues your appointed appellate counsel may have decided not to raise? Generally, you can't add to the appeal, with the limited exception of an allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel.
Appeals are terribly complex. The law and procedure is intended to make the trial court's decision final. I absolutely would suggest working with an experienced appellate attorney going into the supreme court because your appeal is now most likely "by leave" - meaning that court doesn't even need to review your case unless you can convince them they should.
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