When someone believes a trial court made a mistake in their case, they can ask a higher court to review the decision. The person filing the appeal is called the appellant. In Missouri, there are three main reasons why someone may file an appeal. These are lack of substantial evidence, judgment against the weight of the evidence, and an error in applying the law.
- Lack of Substantial Evidence
An appeal based on lack of substantial evidence argues that the trial court’s decision was not supported by any credible evidence. “Substantial evidence” means believable evidence that a reasonable person could rely on. The appellate court reviews the record in a way that favors the original judgment and usually defers to the trial court’s view of witness credibility. Since appellate judges only read transcripts and do not see witnesses in person, they rarely question the trial court’s credibility findings. If any credible evidence supports the judgment, the appeal will not succeed.
- Judgment Unsupported by the Overall Evidence
This type of appeal argues that the decision made by the trial court does not fit with the total evidence presented during the case. To succeed, the appellant must identify both the evidence that supports the judgment and the evidence that challenges it, then explain why the supporting proof was not strong enough in the broader context. The appellate court still gives the benefit of the doubt to the trial court’s findings and respects its ability to determine which witnesses or evidence were most convincing. This type of argument focuses more on how persuasive the evidence was rather than how much evidence was offered.
- Misstatement or Misapplication of the Law
Appellate courts give respect to the trial court’s factual findings but not to its legal conclusions. If the trial judge incorrectly stated or applied the law, the appellate court can correct that mistake. Depending on the review, this may or may not change the final result of the case.
Appealing a judgment in Missouri can be complex and costly. Legal fees and the possible risks of posting a bond to delay enforcement of a judgment should be carefully considered. Disagreeing with how the trial court viewed the evidence is usually not enough to win an appeal. Legal errors, on the other hand, often present stronger grounds for review. Anyone considering an appeal should speak with an attorney experienced in Missouri appellate law for proper guidance.
If you believe a trial court made an error in your case, contact Kranitz, Sadoun & Carpenter, P.C. in St. Joseph, Missouri. Our attorneys have experience handling appeals and can review your case, explain your legal options, and help you determine the best path forward.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ญ๐ข๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช ๐ญ๐ข๐ธ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ฆ. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ.