The Appeal Process
For the purposes of this website, the original case was dealt with in the Crown Court. The appeal is therefore made to the Court of Appeal. The request for an appeal can be made in two ways:
- In the courtroom before the judge trying the original case.
- Lodging an Appellant's Notice directly to the higher court (in this case the Court of Appeal)
The first option can be exercised, but has not been in the case of Kristian. Throughout the trial, the judge seemed to have greater concern for keeping to some sort of predetermined time plan rather than actually seeing justice done. It is self-evident that this particular judge would have been unlikely to permit an appeal. Of course the presiding judge could never make a mistake could they? Being more intelligent than everyone else seems to prevent them from making mistakes; or so we are led to believe.
Instantly the second option for appeal becomes the most apparent.
The application is then heard, as previously sate to decide whether the case should progress to the appeal. Why is this the case you might ask? Why should not an appeal be lodged and then fought?
On the one hand you might suggest that this little service station stop on the road of justice is to ensure that vexatious claims don't progress through the courts against the public interest, and I'm sure the establishment would agree with you. Given the appeals that were permitted for the killers of Gary Newlove and the most recent appeal lodged by the killer of Rhys Jones, it does make you wonder.
On the other hand, this little procedure might be suggested to be an opportunity to quell the proles (see George Orwell's rather prophetic novel 1984), and stop true justice from happening. Given the experience so far for Kristian, it is not beyond the realm's of possibility.
So, the judge considers the merits of the case. If it is deemed worthy of appeal, then it will progress to a full trial or a single hearing.