https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/appeals-the-writ-habeas-corpus-faq.html Appeals and the Writ of Habeas Corpus FAQ Criminal defendants who think they've been wrongfully convicted of a crime have a number of options: appeals, writs, and habeas corpus. What are the chances that my conviction will be reversed? Appeals judges generally resist overruling trial court judgments, instead, preferring to give trial judges the benefit of any doubt. As many appellate courts have said, defendants are not guaranteed "perfect" trials. Normally an appellate court will overturn a guilty verdict only if the trial court made an error of law that appears to have affected the trial outcome. Put differently, an error by the trial judge will not lead to a reversal of a conviction as long as the error can reasonably be considered harmless. Not surprisingly, most errors are deemed "harmless," and consequently few convictions are reversed. However, some errors...