Also known as: appellate courts · appeals court
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A court with jurisdiction to review decisions of lower courts or administrative agencies.
Audrey Ashton was convicted after a bench trial. She filed a motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence while her direct appeal remained pending in the court of appeals. The district court could not grant the motion until the appellate court remanded the case for further proceedings.
Apex Dynamics offered an expert to testify on product design defects. The district court excluded the testimony after finding an analytical gap between the data and the opinion. On appeal the appellate court reviewed the exclusion decision for abuse of discretion and affirmed.
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Anita Ali obtained a judgment that contained a clerical error in the damages amount. After the appeal had been docketed, Anita moved to correct the mistake in the district court. The district court could correct the error only after obtaining leave from the appellate court.
Ava Adebayo challenged a state statute restricting certain medical procedures. The district court upheld the statute. The appellate court independently examined the record and the governing constitutional principles before deciding whether to affirm or reverse.
Apollo Energy resisted a subpoena seeking internal records. The district court denied the motion to quash. The appellate court conducted a meticulous review of the district court's discretionary ruling and the asserted privilege claims before affirming enforcement.
Aisha Ahmed and her partner sought recognition of their marriage under state law. The district court ruled in their favor. The appellate court reviewed the constitutional claims and issued a decision that resolved the conflicting lower-court approaches.
An appellate court reviews decisions of lower courts or administrative agencies to ensure they were reached according to law. It examines the record for legal error rather than retrying factual disputes.
Supporting sources
Once an appeal has been docketed and remains pending, the district court may correct a clerical mistake only with the appellate court's leave.
Appellate courts review a district court's decision to admit or exclude expert testimony under Daubert for abuse of discretion.
The district court may not grant the motion until the appellate court remands the case.
…the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. In 2012, the Sixth Circuit, in a 2–1 decision, became the first federal appellate court to reject a claim that a state’s ban on same-sex marriage violated the Constitution. See DeBoer v. Snyder , 772 F. 3d 388 (2014). The cases now before the Court present the same…