Guilty Plea Appeals Across Two States: Who Appeals and Who Wins?

Though the vast majority of criminal convictions stem from guilty pleas, what occurs after the plea is relatively unknown. Data on appeals of guilty pleas was collected from two states to explore the prevalence and outcomes of guilty plea appeals, in addition to characteristics of those cases. One state produced approximately 5.5 times more plea appeal opinions per month than the other. Interestingly, one state's appeals largely centered around excessive sentencing claims (73.6%), while the other saw a range of grounds (e.g., ineffective assistance of counsel). Appealing defendants in one state almost always lost (only a 2% likelihood of success), compared to higher reversal rates in the other state (near 25%). These results reveal stark variations across states that shed light on how appellate courts review guilty plea appeals. In addition, this study highlights the challenges of collecting appellate court data and points to future areas for research to better illuminate plea processes and appeals.