Trial and Appellate Courts

CJS 220 Week 8 Day 2

How are appellate courts different from trial courts? How do the functions, roles, and outcomes
of appellate courts set them apart from trial courts?

Appellate courts handle appeals, while trial courts get the facts of a trial. A case begins in a trial court
and this is where evidence is presented and witnesses are questioned. In an appellate court, however,
witnesses do not need to present, and evidence is not shown. The functions, roles, and outcomes in an
appellate court are all based upon the facts that are initially presented in a trial court and upon the
verdict that the jury came up with. When a case is appealed and goes to an appellate court, it is up to
the appellate court to evaluate the judgment of the trial court depending on the facts of the case. An
attorney from each party is given a second chance to argue in favor of their clients. Also in a appellate
court, or at least in most jurisdictions, appeals are usually decided by a group of judges, whereas in a
trial court, there is most commonly only one judge handling a case. The role of the jury is only present
in a trial court, but in a court of appeals, there is no jury and the decision is made only by judges. An
appellate court's decision can always overrule a decision made in a trial court, which is purpose of a
case being appealed anyway. However, judges in a court of appeals may not always think that the
decision made in the trial court was “wrong”.