Convicted of a crime, or sentenced more harshly than you expected? An appeal asks a higher court to review the trial court’s legal rulings — it does not retry the facts. Ron Bar-Nadav, a Hackensack criminal defense attorney with more than 25 years of experience, can review your case and explain whether a direct appeal, post-conviction relief, or another remedy fits your situation.
Call (201) 525-1555 Request a Free ConsultationYes. If you were convicted in New Jersey Superior Court or municipal court, you generally have the right to have that conviction and sentence reviewed by a higher court. An appeal is not a second trial. The reviewing court does not hear new testimony, does not re-examine witness credibility, and does not decide guilt or innocence again. Instead, it reviews the existing trial record — the transcripts, exhibits, and rulings already made — for legal error, and decides whether any error requires reversing the conviction, ordering a new trial, or changing the sentence.
Whether an error requires reversal depends on how it was handled at trial. If an issue was properly raised and preserved, the appellate court applies a “harmless error” standard: reversal is required unless the error was harmless. If the issue was not raised below, the tougher “plain error” standard applies under Rule 2:10-2 — the appellate court will disregard the error unless it was “clearly capable of producing an unjust result.” This is why preserving objections at trial matters so much to a later appeal.
New Jersey treats a direct appeal and post-conviction relief (PCR) as two separate procedures, each with its own court, deadline, and purpose. Confusing the two can cost you your rights under both.
| Issue | Direct Appeal | Post-Conviction Relief (PCR) |
|---|---|---|
| What it reviews | Legal errors already reflected in the trial record | Constitutional violations, ineffective assistance of counsel, or newly discovered evidence — often matters outside the trial record |
| Where it’s filed | Appellate Division (Superior Court convictions) or Law Division (municipal convictions) | Criminal Division of the Superior Court, in the county of conviction (R. 3:22) |
| Deadline | 45 days (Superior Court) or 20 days (municipal), from entry of judgment | Generally 5 years from judgment, with limited exceptions (R. 3:22-12) |
| Typical use | The trial court misapplied the law, admitted evidence it shouldn’t have, or gave an incorrect jury instruction | Trial counsel’s performance was constitutionally deficient, or evidence surfaced that wasn’t available at trial |
| Ineffective assistance of counsel? | Generally not the right vehicle — the trial record usually isn’t developed for this claim | Yes — PCR is the standard procedure for raising it |
Many people can pursue both in sequence: a direct appeal first, and PCR afterward if grounds exist that the direct-appeal record could not address.
An appeal has to rest on a legal error, not simply disagreement with the verdict. Common grounds include:
Whether an issue was objected to at trial changes how it is reviewed on appeal — preserved errors receive the more favorable “harmless error” standard, while unpreserved errors face the tougher “plain error” bar.
Appeal deadlines in New Jersey depend on which court entered your judgment. These are three separate tracks — not three tiers of the same deadline.
These are general deadlines for the most common situations. Tolling events, reconsideration motions, and other procedural circumstances can change the calculation (R. 2:4-3), and extensions are granted only by motion, not automatically. Confirm your specific deadline with an attorney as soon as possible after sentencing.
Missing the appeal deadline does not necessarily end your options. Post-conviction relief generally remains available for up to 5 years from the date of judgment, and longer in limited circumstances involving excusable neglect (R. 3:22-12). PCR cannot re-argue issues that could have been raised on direct appeal, but it is the standard procedure for claims like ineffective assistance of counsel or newly discovered evidence.
Other remedies, such as habeas corpus petitions or clemency applications, exist in narrower circumstances. We’ve written a more detailed discussion of these options: What Are Your Options If It’s Too Late to File a Criminal Appeal in New Jersey?
An appellate court has several options once it rules on an appeal:
No result can be promised in advance. The outcome depends on the specific errors identified and how well the record supports them.
When the conviction itself isn’t in dispute but the sentence is believed to be excessive, New Jersey allows the appeal to proceed on an accelerated Excessive Sentence Oral Argument calendar under Rule 2:9-11, typically heard by a two-judge panel. This track focuses narrowly on whether the sentence imposed was consistent with the applicable sentencing guidelines and the trial court’s stated reasons, rather than relitigating the underlying conviction.
A guilty plea generally waives the right to appeal the issues that led up to it. New Jersey allows one narrow exception: with the court’s approval, a defendant may enter a “conditional” guilty plea under Rule 3:9-3(f) that specifically reserves the right to appeal a particular pretrial ruling, such as the denial of a motion to suppress evidence. Outside that procedure, a plea generally forecloses a direct appeal of the underlying case, though the sentence itself may still be challenged, and certain claims may still be available through PCR.
Ron Bar-Nadav is the managing partner of the Law Offices of Ron Bar-Nadav, a criminal defense firm in Hackensack. He has practiced criminal defense exclusively for more than 25 years and reviews appeal and post-conviction matters for clients convicted in New Jersey courts.
Convictions from the Superior Court in Hackensack are appealed to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court — the statewide appellate court that hears matters from all 21 counties, not a Bergen County-specific body. Municipal convictions from Bergen County towns are appealed to the Law Division in Hackensack, the county seat. Ron Bar-Nadav’s office is in Hackensack, close to both the Bergen County Superior Court and the county’s municipal courts, which is where most of his clients’ underlying convictions originate.
An appeal can follow a conviction for almost any offense. These are some of the charges we handle most often, at trial and on appeal.
An appeal turns on the record: what was preserved, what was argued, and whether the trial court got the law right. Ron Bar-Nadav reviews the record and the available issues before recommending whether an appeal, post-conviction relief, or another option makes sense for your case.
If you or someone in your family was convicted in New Jersey and believe the outcome was unjust, it’s worth understanding your options before your deadline runs. Learn more about Ron Bar-Nadav.
Call (201) 525-1555 Request a Free Consultation