The Attorney General`s Office represents and defends the Office of the Prosecutor in all criminal appeals before state and federal courts. The Attorney General`s Criminal Appeals Division has lawyers across the state who work closely with prosecutors. The Criminal Appeals Division handles criminal appeals, ranging from basic criminal policy to non-capital murder cases before district courts of appeal, as well as habeas corpus cases before federal and appellate courts. The Criminal Appeals Division handles over 10,000 of these appeals each year. Since the Attorney General`s Office represents the State in these appeals, the Criminal Appeals Division has the important task of ensuring that all victims of crime are fully informed of all disputes that arise in criminal proceedings. The department`s capital assistants and criminal assistants are in constant contact with victims and their families throughout the criminal proceedings. The Appeal and Post-Conviction Unit is mandated by the Appeal Division, Fourth Division, to represent indigent applicants in Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara and Orleans counties in direct appeals against their convictions. The unit also represents certain indigent appellants convicted in Ontario County. In addition, the unit represents children represented in Erie County Family Court by the Fourth Department Appeals Division Juvenile Attorneys Unit. These appeals are based on family court decisions. The Appeal Division, Fourth Division, assigns hundreds of appointments to the Appeals and Post-Conviction Investigations Unit each year.

In order to be fair to our customers, we process orders in the order in which they were received, taking into account the date of judgment. Upon receipt of an assignment, the court record, the minutes of proceedings, the report of presentation, copies of the evidence presented at the hearing and/or trial, and all relevant documents are collected. Once the file is complete, a lawyer is hired to prefect the appeal. During this challenging time, the Appeals and Post-Conviction Appeals Unit continues to correspond with its clients and refine appeals. Although the Appeals Division, Fourth Section, briefly suspended the full filing of pleadings, we remained committed to preparing pleadings and appendices in order to avoid further delays in the formal reopening of the Court. We continue to discuss our clients` cases through confidential phone calls. The Court of Appeal accepts leave applications and we prepare and submit them to our clients. The Appeal and Post-Conviction Unit is mandated by the Appeal Division, Fourth Division, to represent indigent applicants in Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara and Orleans counties in direct appeals against their convictions. In order for the unit to be assigned, the prosecutor representing a defendant in the Supreme Courts of the State of New York and the District Courts of the State of New York must, within thirty days of the date of sentencing, file a notice of appeal and an application for release with the Appeals Division of the Fourth Division or obtain an order under the Criminal Procedure Act 380.55 providing redress to the poor on appeal. The unit also represents certain indigent appellants convicted in Ontario County. The most complex of these criminal appeals is capital murder, which involves first-degree murder and the death penalty.

There is a separate National Capital Appeals Office to deal with these cases. All cases of capital murder are challenged in the Florida Supreme Court. The Legal Aid Society`s Office of Criminal Appeals (CAB), consisting of approximately 55 lawyers, two social workers, 12 paralegals and five support staff, is the largest provider of services to low-income individuals in New York City who challenge their criminal convictions on appeal or in other post-conviction proceedings. CAB counsel practice daily in the Appeal Divisions and appeal proceedings of the First and Second Divisions. Persons convicted by the County Court and/or the Supreme Court of New York in the counties we cover, after approval, are entitled to representation by our Appeals and Post-Conviction Unit before the Fourth Judicial Department in Rochester. The court makes assignment orders if it is satisfied that the client is indeed a “poor person” who cannot afford to pay a private lawyer. Every year we receive more than 150 such orders. In the districts of Cattaraugus and Genesee, our unit represents convicted persons before local courts (i.e. city, town and village courts) as well as before higher courts. It is important to know that even though the process is lengthy, all of our lawyers are highly skilled and dedicated lawyers who are committed to representing our clients diligently and obtaining meaningful relief for them.

Each client will be personally involved in their call and the designated lawyer will visit them or make confidential phone calls to discuss their case with them.