Habeas Corpus Matters
Unfortunately, the criminal justice system can be overly harsh and astonishingly unfair. Habeas corpus is a procedure where those who have been convicted and are serving prison sentences can bring challenges to the legality of their conviction and sentences. This is a different mechanism than what most would recognize as a criminal appeal. Instead of focusing on challenging individual rulings made by trial judges during a trial or plea proceeding, as in an appeal, habeas corpus challenges the legality of the entire legal proceeding that led to an individual’s conviction. Often times, this will include a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel: an allegation that the attorney that represented you at trial failed to properly protect you and your rights. If you can prove such failures, and that your trial was impacted by such deficiencies, you may be entitled to a new trial or dismissal of the charges against you. Similarly, habeas corpus also often challenges the actions of prosecutors in pursuing their case against you: by hiding evidence or presenting witnesses that the government knows is lying. If you can prove that the government violated your rights, and that it impacted your trial, you may be entitled to a new trial and dismissal of the original charges against you.
Habeas corpus is a complicated, costly, and often difficult process. At Koch, Garg & Brown, we are some of the most experienced attorneys in Connecticut when it comes to successfully challenging convictions through habeas corpus. Because this process is so complicated, costly, and difficult, you need attorneys who will carefully listen to your potential claims, review your case, and give you realistic advice about the best way to challenge your conviction or work to reduce your sentence. Often times, clients will ask that our attorneys engage in a “habeas corpus case review” where the Firm evaluates the record from your case and provides a comprehensive memorandum outlining the potential claims that could be raised in a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. This initial step allows the client to pay a lesser fee in order to understand the potential avenues to challenge their conviction, before committing to have the Firm file a petition for writ of habeas corpus on the client’s behalf.