In general, you have a right to appeal your conviction and/or your sentence. You need to file a notice of appeal within 14 days of the judgment against you. Your appeal will be decided by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. You have the right to an attorney on appeal. If the Federal Public Defender's Office represented you in district court, we will also handle your appeal unless we have a conflict or we represented you on a post-conviction matter. (If we have a conflict and if you cannot afford a lawyer, the court will appoint an attorney from outside this office.) If you had a private lawyer before but have run out of money, you may ask to have counsel appointed for your appeal.

If you pled guilty, you may have given up the right to appeal any rulings that the judge made before your plea. If you lost a motion to suppress evidence, for example, you can only appeal the judge’s ruling if you have a special “conditional plea agreement” that allows you to appeal that issue. If you went to trial, on the other hand, you can appeal any rulings the judge made before, during, or after the trial. Many plea agreements in this district have “waivers” saying that you give up your right to appeal sentencing issues. What you can and can't appeal depends on the language in your waiver. Talk to your lawyer about the “waiver of appeal” in your plea agreement. There may be some things that you can try to appeal even after a waiver. Your attorney will figure out what issues may be appealable.

The Supreme Court does not have to take any case. The Justices accept only a few very important cases for review every year. If your attorney files a “petition for writ of certiorari,” which asks the Court to consider your case, and if “cert” is granted, the Supreme Court will make the final decision in your case. If “cert” is denied, the Fourth Circuit's decision will stand. Your lawyer will tell you if your case presents any issues that can be presented to the Supreme Court. The entire appeals process can take one to two years.

Just as state prisoners can file habeas corpus petitions, federal prisoners can file "motions attacking the sentence" under 28 U.S.C. §2255. A §2255 motion usually comes after an appeal, and usually claims that your constitutional rights were violated. You must file within one year of the date that your conviction becomes final. There is no right to appointed counsel. You must file by yourself and ask the court to appoint a lawyer for you. If counsel is not appointed, you will have to represent yourself.