# "Lawyers say they'll appeal" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2023, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-say-theyll-appeal/983835 "2023-05-10T03:53:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2023, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-say-theyll-appeal/983835/41 "2023-05-13T04:09:21Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > the accused’s criminal record can’t be entered at trial. At the trial I was on the jury, they told us about the defendants prior record after we found him not guilty of attempted murder, so we could get him on felon with a gun. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2023, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-say-theyll-appeal/983835/42 "2023-05-13T11:47:35Z")
That’s sentencing, not the trial. Once found guilty at trial , the accused’s record can be used for sentencing purposes. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2023, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-say-theyll-appeal/983835/43 "2023-05-13T12:17:30Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I have heard (so probably not true) that in civil cases the appeal is to buy time for settlement. BigCorp Inc. has no intention to actually pay the $50,000,000 judgement you just won so they appeal to start the negotiation of what they will actually pay. Any truth to that? It’s not about “buying time”. If Big Corp doesn’t appeal the settlement, they are legally obligated to pay it. They can’t just decide they “have no intention of paying”. But yes, when an unexpectedly large judgement is announced, Big Corp (or more likely, their insurer, who is the entity that is actually going to pay the settlement) will, of course, appeal. A lot of those enormous settlements are improper, and will be reduced on appeal. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2023, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-say-theyll-appeal/983835/44 "2023-05-13T12:39:27Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > A lot of those enormous settlements are improper, and will be reduced on appeal. Nitpick, you mean verdicts or judgments. Enormous settlements are agreed to and are paid. And, not a nitpick, a lot of enormous verdicts are perfectly justified. (although many get reduced on appeal anyway) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2023, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-say-theyll-appeal/983835/45 "2023-05-13T13:15:09Z")
I do mean verdicts, or more rarely, judgements. Thank you for correcting that. But i strongly disagree that many enormous verdicts are appropriate. However, as this is FQ, i think my comments on that would be off-topic. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2023, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-say-theyll-appeal/983835/46 "2023-05-13T13:42:21Z")
I expect that depends on what the person is accused of - I know I’ve seen plenty of people take a plea deal at arraignment for relatively minor charges , like they are arrested for “theft of services” ( farebeating on a bus or train) and plead guilty to "disorderly conduct " but I doubt if it happens with more serious charges. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2023, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-say-theyll-appeal/983835/47 "2023-05-13T14:00:09Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Once found guilty at trial , the accused’s record can be used for sentencing purposes. That’s also the time when the so-called “character witnesses”, who may vouch for the convicted’s motivations, upbringing, or other mitigating factors, usually testify. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-say-theyll-appeal/983835/48 "2023-05-13T17:36:39Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I expect that depends on what the person is accused of - I know I’ve seen plenty of people take a plea deal at arraignment for relatively minor charges , like they are arrested for “theft of services” ( farebeating on a bus or train) and plead guilty to "disorderly conduct " but I doubt if it happens with more serious charges. That was my experience. For many minor charges a defendant could plead guilty and get released, versus pleading not guilty at arraignment and perhaps not getting released. (another example of the way our criminal justice system fails poor people). In serious charges you sometimes know it’s coming (like Trump in NYC) and in theory could work out a deal beforehand and enter into it at arraignment. Generally, the court’s arraignment calendar is too busy for such a thing, but a special setting could be worked out. In every case I ever saw, however, one pleaded guilty to a felony at arraignment. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2023, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-say-theyll-appeal/983835/49 "2023-05-13T19:22:02Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > That’s also the time when the so-called “character witnesses”, who may vouch for the convicted’s motivations, upbringing, or other mitigating factors, usually testify. So charcter witnesses don’t usually happen at the trial itself? Or as mentioned earlier, that’s a risky move because it opens a door? > [@doreen](#): > > I expect that depends on what the person is accused of - I know I’ve seen plenty of people take a plea deal at arraignment for relatively minor charges , like they are arrested for “theft of services” ( farebeating on a bus or train) and plead guilty to "disorderly conduct " but I doubt if it happens with more serious charges. For example, Aaron Swartz was offered “plead guilty and take 6 months, or go to trial and we’ll ask for 35 years.” He chose suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Falchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Falchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falchion)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-say-theyll-appeal/983835/50 "2023-05-14T13:41:11Z")
> [@pirviii](#): > > At the trial I was on the jury, they told us about the defendants prior record after we found him not guilty of attempted murder, so we could get him on felon with a gun. That’s likely because being a felon is an element of the felon in possession crime. I’ve seen cases like the one you’ve described bifurcated (so that the felon in possession is held as a concurrent bench trial) in order to prevent the jury from learning about the conviction. I suppose you could also do it in the way you describe. > [@md-2000](#): > > So charcter witnesses don’t usually happen at the trial itself? Or as mentioned earlier, that’s a risky move because it opens a door? Under the Federal Rules, at trial, a _defendant_ can introduce evidence of his own character or (except in sex-offense cases) the character of the victim. But, once he does so, the prosecution can introduce evidence to rebut it. So it’s risky. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-say-theyll-appeal/983835.md?page=2)