# Prosecutor appeals
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prosecutor-appeals/668071
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 5, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prosecutor-appeals/668071 "2013-09-05T13:30:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prosecutor-appeals/668071/1 "2013-09-05T13:30:24Z")
This question is based on an [article I read this morning](http://bangordailynews.com/2013/09/05/news/nation/montana-appeals-30-day-rape-sentence-for-former-teacher/).
I didn’t know prosecutors could appeal a sentence once it had been handed down. Ignoring emotional reactions to this man’s particular crime, wouldn’t this kind of appeal be placing the man in double jeopardy?
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prosecutor-appeals/668071/2 "2013-09-05T13:31:54Z")
I think they are asking the Supreme Court to overturn the sentencing, not the conviction. That’s not double jeopardy, that’s a procedural issue.
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### Author:  [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prosecutor-appeals/668071/3 "2013-09-05T14:52:05Z")
Prosecutors can’t appeal an acquittal. They can appeal certain judges’ decisions, depending on the law of the state.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prosecutor-appeals/668071/4 "2013-09-05T15:05:19Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#):
>
> This question is based on an [article I read this morning](http://bangordailynews.com/2013/09/05/news/nation/montana-appeals-30-day-rape-sentence-for-former-teacher/).
>
> I didn’t know prosecutors could appeal a sentence once it had been handed down. Ignoring emotional reactions to this man’s particular crime, wouldn’t this kind of appeal be placing the man in double jeopardy?
The sentence must be legal. An illegal sentence is void; the judge had no authority to impose it.
Even a legal sentence may generally be appealed if the appellant can show it was an abuse of discretion.
[Here is a column I did several years ago](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3032/what-happens-if-you-confess-to-a-crime-after-being-found-not-guilty) that discusses Double Jeopardy in some detail.