What Is Post-Conviction Relief?
Post-conviction relief is a legal procedure in which a person who has been convicted of a crime challenges the validity of his or her conviction or sentence. But unlike an appeal to a higher court (an “appellate court”), this separate procedure initially takes place in the court that entered the conviction and sentence (the “trial court”). It is usually pursued either after an appeal of the conviction and sentence was unsuccessful or when no appeal was possible (as in the case of a guilty plea). Whatever the trial court decides then can be appealed to an appellate court.
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While as appellate lawyers, Jonathan Sternberg and his team most often focus on actual appeals from trial courts to appellate courts, they also routinely pursue post-conviction relief, the substance and process of which this page details.
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Also, here are some of our past post-conviction relief cases:
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Roberts v. State, No. 2031-CC00165 (Circuit Court of Greene County, Missouri 2024)​
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Vacated conviction for investment fraud and 20-year sentence, ordered client released from prison