THE FIGHT IS NOT OVER AFTER CONVICTION.

A conviction does not always mean the case is over.

Trial courts make mistakes. Important evidence gets overlooked. Constitutional violations occur. Lawyers miss issues. And sometimes the law changes after a person has already been convicted or sentenced.

At Gause Law Offices, we represent people throughout Washington seeking to overturn wrongful convictions, obtain new trials, challenge unlawful sentences, and pursue other opportunities for post-conviction relief.

Our firm has successfully overturned convictions and sentences in the Washington Court of Appeals and Washington Supreme Court. In 2020, Emily Gause won the landmark Washington Supreme Court case In re Personal Restraint of Domingo-Cornelio, a victory that opened the door for more than 500 people sentenced as juveniles to adult prison terms to seek a second chance through a new sentencing hearing.

There may still be a way forward.

CRIMINAL APPEALS REQUIRE A DIFFERENT KIND OF LAWYERING

An appeal is not a second trial.

Appellate courts generally do not hear the witnesses again or decide whether they would have reached the same verdict. Instead, an appellate lawyer examines what happened in the trial court – sometimes through thousands of pages of transcripts, motions, exhibits, and rulings – to determine whether legal errors occurred and whether those errors require relief.

Appellate advocacy requires a different set of skills than trial work: meticulous review of the record, sophisticated legal research, strategic issue selection, and persuasive written advocacy.

It also requires judgment.

Not every possible issue belongs in an appellate brief. Strong appellate advocacy means identifying the arguments that matter most, developing them fully, and presenting them in a way that gives the appellate court a compelling reason to act.

DIRECT CRIMINAL APPEALS

A person convicted of a crime in Washington Superior Court generally has the right to seek review in the Washington Court of Appeals.

Potential appellate issues may include:

• Improper admission or exclusion of evidence

• Unconstitutional searches or seizures

• Prosecutorial misconduct

• Improper jury instructions

• Insufficient evidence

• Ineffective assistance of counsel

• Constitutional violations

• Sentencing errors

• Other legal errors occurring before or during trial

Every case is different. Our first task is to carefully review what happened below, identify the strongest potential appellate issues, and develop a strategy for seeking relief.

TIME MATTERS.

A notice of appeal in a Washington criminal case generally must be filed within 30 days of the decision being appealed. That deadline should not be missed while you are searching for appellate counsel.

If you want to appeal, tell your trial attorney immediately and make sure a notice of appeal is filed within the 30-day deadline, even if you have not yet retained the attorney who will ultimately handle the appeal. You can then consult with appellate counsel about representation and the next steps in the appellate process.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING A CRIMINAL APPEAL?

Once an appeal begins, appellate counsel obtains and studies the trial court record, identifies the strongest legal issues, researches the applicable law, and prepares a written brief explaining why the conviction or sentence should be reversed or otherwise changed.

The State then has an opportunity to respond, and the defense may file a reply. Some cases are also scheduled for oral argument before a panel of appellate judges.

Depending on the issues and the case, an appellate court can affirm the conviction, reverse a conviction, order a new trial, vacate or modify a sentence, or return the case to the trial court for additional proceedings.

WASHINGTON SUPREME COURT REVIEW

A decision from the Court of Appeals does not necessarily end the case.

In appropriate cases, we seek review by the Washington Supreme Court. Unlike a direct appeal to the Court of Appeals, review by the Washington Supreme Court is generally discretionary. A successful Petition for Review requires more than simply arguing that the Court of Appeals got something wrong; it requires identifying why the issue is important enough to warrant consideration by Washington’s highest court.

Gause Law Offices has experience litigating significant criminal cases before the Washington Supreme Court and pursuing relief at every level of Washington’s appellate courts.

POST-CONVICTION RELIEF

Sometimes the most important issue in a case cannot be resolved through the direct appeal.

A direct appeal primarily examines what happened in the trial court based on the existing record. Post-conviction proceedings can provide a way to address problems that were not, and sometimes could not have been, fully developed in that record.

That may include evidence discovered after trial, investigation that should have been conducted but was not, constitutional violations that came to light later, or changes in the law that create a new opportunity for relief.

Our post-conviction practice includes Personal Restraint Petitions, resentencing proceedings, prosecutor-initiated resentencing requests (6164 petitions), and other challenges to unlawful convictions and sentences.

PERSONAL RESTRAINT PETITIONS

A Personal Restraint Petition, or PRP, is one of Washington's primary forms of post-conviction relief.

PRPs may involve claims such as:

• Ineffective assistance of trial or appellate counsel

• Newly discovered evidence

• Evidence that should have been investigated or presented at trial

• Constitutional violations

• Significant changes in the law

Unlike many direct appeals, post-conviction cases may require us to go beyond the existing court record. That can mean reopening an investigation, locating and interviewing witnesses, obtaining records, consulting or retaining experts, and developing evidence that was never presented to the trial court.

Post-conviction law is complicated and deadlines can be unforgiving.

Washington imposes a strict one-year time limitation on many collateral attacks, while also recognizing important exceptions. A person should not assume that it is too late to pursue relief without first having the case evaluated.

RESENTENCING & SECOND CHANCES

Post-conviction advocacy is not limited to overturning convictions.

Washington law has changed significantly over time, creating opportunities for some people serving lengthy prison sentences to return to court and ask for a new sentence.

Gause Law Offices represents clients in resentencing proceedings involving changes in the law, youth and emerging-adult sentencing principles, and other avenues for sentence reduction.

We also represent clients seeking prosecutor-initiated resentencing under RCW 36.27.130, previously referred to at SB 6164, which permits a county prosecutor to ask a sentencing court to resentence a person when the original sentence no longer advances the interests of justice.  (Link to our Blog on this)

For us, resentencing work is about more than identifying a legal mechanism for returning to court.

We investigate who our client is today. We document rehabilitation, growth, family support, treatment, education, employment, and plans for the future. We gather records and support. We work with experts and mitigation specialists when appropriate. And we tell the client's story in a way that demonstrates why a sentence imposed years or decades earlier should no longer define the rest of that person's life.

Second chances matter.