Wisconsin Criminal Appeals Lawyer

A criminal conviction in Wisconsin does not have to be the final word. Whether the trial court made errors that changed the outcome, your attorney failed to mount an effective defense, or new evidence has surfaced that undermines the verdict, Wisconsin law provides structured pathways to challenge what happened—from direct appeal to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, to post-conviction motions in circuit court, to federal habeas corpus relief.

Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown, LLP has practiced appellate defense in Milwaukee for over five decades, representing clients at every level of review: the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Partner Nicole Masnica leads the firm’s appellate team, drawing on nine years of appellate experience at the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office and the support of attorneys with deep constitutional law backgrounds in serious felony, life-sentence, and actual innocence cases.

How the Wisconsin Criminal Appeals Process Works

Criminal appeals in Wisconsin move through distinct, deadline-driven stages. The process begins with filing a Notice of Intent to Pursue Post-Conviction Relief, continues through post-conviction motions in circuit court, advances to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, and may reach the Wisconsin Supreme Court on a discretionary petition for review. Each stage carries its own deadline, and missing one can bar avenues of relief that would otherwise remain open.

That 20-day window after sentencing is the most critical moment in the entire appellate process. Under Wis. Stat. § 809.30(2)(b), a defendant must file a Notice of Intent to Pursue Post-Conviction Relief within 20 days of the date of sentencing. Filing late can jeopardize the right to a direct appeal.

Wisconsin does provide a limited safety valve. Under Wis. Stat. § 809.82, the Court of Appeals—not the circuit court—has authority to extend the Rule 809.30 deadlines, and where an attorney’s failure caused a missed filing, the remedy is generally an extension of the deadline rather than a permanent loss of the appeal. That relief is discretionary and should never be relied on. Meeting the original deadline is the only dependable course.

Once that notice is filed, the process moves through a defined sequence:

• Post-conviction motion in circuit court: Filed within 60 days after the later of service of the trial transcript or the circuit court case record, under Wis. Stat. § 809.30(2)(h). This motion raises the specific errors or constitutional violations you believe affected the outcome—ineffective assistance of counsel, newly discovered evidence, prosecutorial misconduct, and similar claims.
• Notice of Appeal to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals: If the circuit court denies the post-conviction motion, a Notice of Appeal must be filed within 20 days of the entry of that order under Wis. Stat. § 809.30(2)(j). The appeal is then briefed, argued, and decided by either a three-judge panel (felony cases) or a single judge (misdemeanors). The Wisconsin Court of Appeals operates in four districts, with District I in Milwaukee handling most cases for southeastern Wisconsin defendants.
• Petition for Review to the Wisconsin Supreme Court: If the Court of Appeals rules against you, a Petition for Review must be filed within 30 days of the date of the decision under Wis. Stat. § 809.62. The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s review is discretionary—the Court selects cases involving significant legal questions or issues of statewide importance. Most petitions are denied.

A typical Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision takes approximately 10 to 18 months from the filing of the Notice of Appeal. Cases that advance to the Wisconsin Supreme Court extend that timeline further. The appeal is based entirely on the trial record; no new evidence is introduced at the appellate stage. Possible outcomes include affirming the conviction, reversing it, remanding the case to circuit court for further proceedings, or ordering a new trial.

What Can Be Appealed vs. What Requires a Post-Conviction Motion

Not every issue can go straight to the Court of Appeals. Direct appeals cover errors that appear in the trial record—evidentiary rulings, jury instruction mistakes, and legal arguments that were raised and preserved during the trial. Issues outside the record require a different approach.

Claims like ineffective assistance of counsel or newly discovered evidence typically must be raised first through a post-conviction motion under Wis. Stat. § 809.30 or a separate motion under Wis. Stat. § 974.06.

The Escalona-Naranjo waiver rule adds a layer of urgency here: issues that could have been raised in the initial post-conviction process but weren’t may be barred in any later § 974.06 motion unless the defendant demonstrates a sufficient reason for the failure to raise them earlier. An experienced appellate attorney identifies which issues belong where—and works to ensure nothing is lost to waiver.

What Are the Grounds for a Criminal Appeal in Wisconsin?

Not every legal error results in a successful appeal. Wisconsin appellate courts look for errors that likely affected the outcome of the case—not harmless technicalities. The most common grounds include constitutional violations at trial, ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, and the discovery of evidence that was unavailable during the original proceedings.

Your appellate attorney reviews the full trial record to identify which errors are legally significant and which can be presented most effectively on appeal. Common grounds our Milwaukee appellate attorneys raise include:

• Ineffective assistance of trial counsel: This is one of the most frequently raised grounds in Wisconsin criminal appeals. To succeed, the defendant must show that counsel’s performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that the deficiency prejudiced the outcome. Wisconsin courts require a Machner hearing—an evidentiary hearing named after State v. Machner—to develop the factual record on these claims.
• Brady violations: When the prosecution withholds exculpatory evidence—evidence favorable to the defense—it violates the defendant’s constitutional rights under Brady v. Maryland. These violations can surface years after the trial when previously hidden evidence comes to light.
• Improper admission or exclusion of evidence: Trial courts make evidentiary rulings throughout the proceedings. If a judge allowed prejudicial evidence that should have been excluded, or blocked defense evidence that should have come in, those rulings can form the basis of an appeal.
• Unconstitutional search or seizure: Fourth Amendment violations—including searches conducted without a valid warrant or outside the scope of consent—can result in the suppression of key evidence and reversal of a conviction.
• Involuntary or uninformed guilty plea: If a defendant entered a guilty plea without being properly informed of the rights being waived or the consequences of the plea, that plea may be challenged on appeal.
• Prosecutorial misconduct: Improper closing arguments, coaching witnesses, or misrepresenting evidence to the jury can constitute grounds for reversal if the conduct was prejudicial.
• Jury instruction errors: Incorrect or misleading instructions to the jury about the law can distort the deliberation process and form the basis of an appeal.
• Insufficient evidence: If the prosecution’s evidence, viewed most favorably to the State, was not enough for a reasonable jury to convict, the conviction may be overturned.
• Newly discovered evidence: Evidence that was not available at the time of trial and could not have been discovered through reasonable diligence may support a post-conviction motion for a new trial.
• Illegal or excessive sentence: A sentence that exceeds statutory limits or reflects an abuse of judicial discretion can be modified on appeal.

Each ground connects to specific forms of relief. Depending on the issue and the court’s ruling, an appeal may result in a reversal of the conviction, a remand for a new trial, a modification of the sentence, or an order for further proceedings in circuit court.

Federal Appeals: The 7th Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court

When state court relief is exhausted, Wisconsin defendants may pursue relief in the federal courts. GRGB has handled appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit—which hears federal criminal appeals from Wisconsin—and has experience petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court for certiorari review of both state and federal convictions.

Federal appellate practice is a distinct discipline with its own procedural rules, briefing requirements, and standards of review. GRGB’s federal work draws on decades of practice and attorneys with backgrounds in constitutional and criminal law. For clients whose cases move from Wisconsin state court into the federal system, that means the same firm handles the matter from circuit court through habeas review, without a handoff to outside counsel partway through.

Federal appeals from Wisconsin involve two primary pathways:

• Federal criminal convictions: A Notice of Appeal must be filed within 14 days of the judgment of conviction. The appeal goes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, located at the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse at 219 S. Dearborn Street in Chicago.
• Federal habeas corpus for state convictions: Under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, a person convicted in Wisconsin state court may petition the federal district court for habeas relief—but only after exhausting all state remedies, including a Petition for Review to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The petition must generally be filed within one year of the conviction becoming final under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), subject to statutory and equitable tolling. If the district court denies the petition, a Certificate of Appealability is required to bring the case to the Seventh Circuit.

Federal habeas corpus is not a second chance at trial. It is a narrow review of whether the state court proceedings violated the defendant’s federal constitutional rights. The standard is demanding, but it remains an avenue when state courts have closed every door. For defendants serving life sentences or facing decades of incarceration, federal habeas is frequently the final stage of review.

Actual Innocence: When You Didn’t Do It

Among the most compelling—and most difficult—of all appellate matters are actual innocence claims. These go beyond procedural errors at trial. They assert that the convicted person did not commit the crime. Wisconsin law provides specific tools to pursue these claims, including post-conviction DNA testing under Wis. Stat. § 974.07 and motions based on newly discovered evidence.

The weight of these cases is difficult to overstate. A 2014 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences estimated that at least 4.1 percent of defendants sentenced to death in the United States were wrongfully convicted—more than double the share actually exonerated. The National Registry of Exonerations recorded 97 exonerations nationally in 2025, and those individuals lost an average of 14.2 years to wrongful imprisonment. Official misconduct was a contributing factor in at least 70 of those cases. Since 1989, the Registry has documented more than 3,800 exonerations nationwide, accounting for over 36,000 years lost.

Wisconsin has its own record on this front. The National Registry of Exonerations lists 27 exonerations in Milwaukee County since 1989—a rate of 2.87 per 100,000 residents, more than twice the national average of 1.11. Among counties with populations above 300,000, Milwaukee ranks 15th in the country for exonerations per capita. The Wisconsin Innocence Project at the University of Wisconsin Law School has secured the release of more than 30 wrongfully convicted people.

Under Wis. Stat. § 974.07, any person convicted of a crime in Wisconsin may file a motion for post-conviction DNA testing at any time after conviction—there is no deadline. The statute requires the court to order testing if the biological evidence is in government possession, hasn’t been tested with current technology, and it is reasonably probable that the defendant would not have been convicted if exculpatory results had been available at trial.

These cases require experienced appellate counsel who understands both the scientific and legal dimensions of DNA evidence, who can identify which items of biological evidence are most likely to yield results, and who can present the motion in a way that meets the statutory standard. GRGB treats actual innocence work with the gravity it demands.

Why Choose GRGB for Your Appeal?

Appellate practice demands a skill set that is fundamentally different from trial work. It requires meticulous legal research, precise brief writing, and the ability to identify reversible error buried within thousands of pages of trial record. GRGB’s appellate team brings more than 55 years of institutional knowledge and attorneys credentialed at every level of appellate review.

The attorneys who handle your appeal are not generalists picking up appellate work on the side. They are practitioners whose careers are built around this work:

• Jason D. Luczak — Partner. Leads GRGB’s criminal and white-collar defense practice. Licensed in both Wisconsin and Illinois. Adjunct professor of trial advocacy at Marquette University Law School.
• Nicole M. Masnica — Partner and appellate team leader. Before joining GRGB, Masnica spent nine years at the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office handling appellate representation exclusively. She has been recognized as a BizTimes Notable Woman in Law and a Wisconsin Law Journal “Women Who Lead” honoree.
• Adam J. Schleis — Partner. Former Wisconsin State Public Defender with seven years of institutional defense experience. Named to the Wisconsin Law Journal’s Up and Coming Lawyers list in 2018.
• Patrick Campbell — Former prosecutor in Sheboygan and Waukesha counties. Named a Super Lawyer Rising Star in 2024.
• Andrew Flood — Attorney at GRGB, handling criminal defense and appeals matters.
• Sydney Wilcox — Quarter-finalist in the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition. Marquette University Law School moot court finalist.

GRGB practices before the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in all four districts, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. A case that begins with a post-conviction motion in circuit court and ends with a federal habeas petition can be handled by the same team from start to finish.

Schedule Your Consultation with a Wisconsin Criminal Appeals Lawyer

The deadlines in appellate practice are strict and, in many cases, unforgiving. A missed 20-day filing window, a waived issue under Escalona-Naranjo, or an expired AEDPA deadline can bar relief regardless of how strong the underlying claim may be. Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown, LLP has represented Wisconsin defendants in appeals and post-conviction proceedings for more than five decades. Our appellate attorneys handle direct appeals, § 974.06 motions, § 974.07 DNA testing motions, federal habeas corpus petitions, and Seventh Circuit appeals.

If you or a family member is facing a criminal appeal in Wisconsin—at any level, from circuit court through the federal system—our appellate team can evaluate your case and advise you on the options that remain open. Call 414-271-1440 or message us online to schedule your consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions About Criminal Appeals in Wisconsin

How long does a criminal appeal take in Wisconsin?

A Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision typically takes 10 to 18 months from the filing of the Notice of Appeal. Cases that proceed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court extend the timeline further. Federal habeas corpus proceedings can add years. Life sentences and serious felony cases often involve multiple rounds of post-conviction litigation, and the process is measured in years rather than months.

Do I need a different attorney for my appeal than the one who handled my trial?

In most cases, yes. One of the most common grounds for appeal is ineffective assistance of trial counsel, and raising that claim puts the trial attorney in the position of arguing that their own performance was deficient. Wisconsin’s Machner hearing procedure makes the conflict concrete: trial counsel testifies under oath about their own strategic decisions. A separate appellate attorney brings a fresh perspective to the record and can identify errors that may have gone unnoticed or unpreserved.

What is actual innocence, and how do I pursue it?

An actual innocence claim asserts that the convicted person did not commit the crime, as opposed to a procedural argument that the trial was conducted improperly. In Wisconsin, actual innocence can support a motion for DNA testing under Wis. Stat. § 974.07 (which may be filed at any time after conviction), a post-conviction motion based on newly discovered evidence, or a federal habeas corpus petition. These are among the most complex cases in appellate practice.

What happens if my Wisconsin appeal is denied?

If the Wisconsin Court of Appeals denies your appeal, you have 30 days to petition the Wisconsin Supreme Court for discretionary review under Wis. Stat. § 809.62. If the Supreme Court declines, you may pursue federal habeas corpus relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, generally within one year of your conviction becoming final. You may also file a Wis. Stat. § 974.06 motion in circuit court on issues not previously raised. Each avenue has strict deadlines that must be met.

Can someone serving a life sentence still appeal?

Yes. Wisconsin law imposes no time bar on certain post-conviction motions. A Wis. Stat. § 974.06 constitutional claim may be filed at any time while the defendant remains in custody. DNA testing motions under Wis. Stat. § 974.07 may also be filed at any time after conviction. Federal habeas corpus petitions carry a one-year deadline from the date the conviction becomes final, subject to statutory tolling. People serving life sentences have pursued and won relief decades after their original convictions.

What if I already missed the 20-day deadline to file a Notice of Intent?

Missing the deadline does not automatically end the case. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals has authority under Wis. Stat. § 809.82 to extend the Rule 809.30 time limits, and where the missed filing resulted from an attorney’s failure rather than the defendant’s choice, an extension is the customary remedy. The circuit court cannot grant this relief—the request must go to the Court of Appeals. Anyone in this position should contact an appellate attorney immediately, because the available options narrow as time passes.