Found Guilty? Here's How Long You Have to Do Something About It
If you were just found guilty, or you pleaded and already regret it, the thing to know tonight is that the clock is running.
One deadline is 30 days. One is 60 days and cannot be extended for any reason, by any judge. If you were sentenced to state prison, one is ten days.
Call 978-969-2890.
Most people who call us at this stage are not asking whether they can win. They are asking how long they have, and whether it is already too late.
Usually it is not. But the answer depends on which of several different things you actually need to file, because they run on different clocks and only one of them is what people mean when they say "appeal."
If you are reading this for someone else — a son, a husband, a daughter who was sentenced this week — the same is true for you. Families call us as often as clients do, and the first conversation is free either way.
Key Information: What You Need to Know
Thirty days to file a notice of appeal. In a criminal case, the notice of appeal is filed with the clerk of the trial court within 30 days after entry of the judgment, appealable order, or adjudication, or the imposition of sentence — whichever comes last.
Sixty days to ask the judge to revise or revoke the sentence, and that one cannot be extended. The 60-day period is jurisdictional. When it passes, the judge loses the power to act, no matter how good the reason for being late.
Ten days if the sentence was to state prison. A separate appeal of the sentence itself goes to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court, and it must be filed within ten days of the imposition of sentence. This is the shortest clock on the page.
A motion for a new trial has no filing deadline. It can be filed at any time. That is the one door that does not close on a calendar — but it closes in a different way, described below.
If you are not a U.S. citizen, there is a separate route. Where the court failed to give the required immigration warning at your plea, the law provides for the plea to be withdrawn, with no time limit at all.
An appeal is not a second trial. No new witnesses, no new evidence, no second chance to tell the story. The appeal is argued on the record that already exists.
A sentence does not pause because you filed an appeal. Filing does not stop a sentence of imprisonment. A stay has to be asked for and granted.
The Different Things People Call "an Appeal"
Almost everyone uses the word appeal for all of them. They are not the same, and confusing them is how deadlines get missed.
A direct appeal asks a higher court to find that something went legally wrong in the trial court — a wrong ruling on evidence, a wrong instruction to the jury, a motion that should have been allowed. It is decided by the Appeals Court or, in some cases, the Supreme Judicial Court.
A motion to revise or revoke asks the same judge who sentenced you to take another look at the sentence. It is not about legal error. The standard is whether it appears that justice may not have been done.
A sentence appeal to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court is a different thing again, available only for certain state prison sentences, and on a ten-day clock. It challenges the length of the sentence, not the conviction.
A motion for a new trial asks the trial judge to undo the conviction itself — because of newly discovered evidence, ineffective assistance of counsel, a constitutional problem, or something that went wrong that was never addressed.
It is also the way to attack a guilty plea or an admission to sufficient facts after the fact.
Some cases call for one. Some call for two or three of them running at the same time. Which is a strategic question, and it has to be answered while all the doors are still open.
How Long Do You Have to File an Appeal in Massachusetts?
Thirty days. Under Massachusetts Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(b), the notice of appeal in a criminal case is filed with the clerk of the trial court within 30 days after entry of the judgment, appealable order, or adjudication appealed from, entry of a notice of appeal by the Commonwealth, or the imposition of sentence — whichever of those comes last.
"Whichever comes last" matters. If you were found guilty on one date and sentenced on a later one, the clock runs from the later event.
A timely new trial motion holds the door open. If a motion for a new trial is filed within 30 days of the verdict, finding of guilt, judgment, adjudication, or imposition of sentence, the period to appeal does not end until 30 days after the order deciding that motion.
The same is true for a motion for reconsideration filed within 30 days of that order. Filed later, a motion has no such effect.
There is a limited safety valve, and it is not something to rely on. Rule 4(c) allows the trial court, on a showing of excusable neglect, to extend the time for filing a notice of appeal by up to 30 days beyond the original period.
It is discretionary and it requires a showing. It is not a second deadline.
If the person is in custody, the mailbox counts. Rule 4(d) provides that a self-represented person confined in an institution files the notice on the day it goes into the institution's legal mail system, with a certificate showing the date of deposit — not the day the clerk receives it.
The 60-Day Deadline That No Judge Can Extend
This is the deadline people lose, and it is the one with no remedy.
Under Massachusetts Rule of Criminal Procedure 29(a)(2), a defendant may file a written motion asking the trial judge to revise or revoke the disposition if it appears that justice may not have been done.
The motion must be filed within 60 days of the disposition, within 60 days of an appellate court's issuance of a rescript on direct review, or within 60 days of the disposition of criminal charges against a codefendant.
The Reporter's Notes to the rule state plainly that the 60-day period remains jurisdictional. That is not a technicality about paperwork. It means that once it passes, the judge has no power to revise the sentence even if the judge wants to.
And there is a second thing about Rule 29 that surprises people. A motion to revise or revoke is decided on the facts as they existed at the time of sentencing.
Doing well on probation afterward, completing a program, holding down a job — those are real and they matter in other contexts, but they are not what this motion is for. It asks whether the sentence was unjust when it was imposed, looking back.
Which is exactly why 60 days is so easy to lose. Nothing has happened yet. The instinct is to wait and see how things go.
By the time there is something to show the judge, the rule no longer allows the judge to consider it, and the deadline is gone.
Sentenced to State Prison? There Is a Separate Ten-Day Clock
This one is missed more than any other, because it is short and because it is not what most people picture when they think of an appeal.
Under G.L. c. 278, § 28A, there is an Appellate Division of the Superior Court that exists for one purpose: reviewing sentences to state prison imposed by final judgments in criminal cases.
It does not review the conviction. It reviews the sentence. The exception is a case in which a different sentence could not have been imposed — where the sentence was mandatory, there is nothing for the panel to review.
Under G.L. c. 278, § 28B, the appeal is filed with the clerk of the court for the county where judgment was rendered, within ten days after the sentence is imposed.
The statute also requires the clerk to notify the person sentenced of the right to appeal — but ten days is ten days, and a person who has just been taken into custody is not always in a position to act on a notice.
What the panel can do is substantial. Three Superior Court justices sit, none of whom may be the judge who imposed the sentence, and two are a quorum.
They may consider the appeal with or without a hearing, and they may amend the judgment by substituting a different sentence, or any other disposition that could have been made at the time of the original sentencing.
A sentence cannot be increased without giving you an opportunity to be heard. If the panel decides the original sentence should stand, it dismisses the appeal, and that decision is final.
Two cautions. Filing this appeal does not stay the execution of the sentence.
And this is a different remedy from a motion to revise or revoke, on a different clock, decided by different judges — a point worth raising with counsel on the day of sentencing, not a week later.
A Motion for a New Trial Has No Deadline — And One Serious Trap
Under Massachusetts Rule of Criminal Procedure 30(b), the trial judge may grant a new trial at any time, on a written motion, if it appears that justice may not have been done. There is no filing window.
A separate provision, Rule 30(a), lets a person who is imprisoned or whose liberty is restrained because of a criminal conviction move at any time, as of right, to be released or to have the sentence corrected, on the ground that the confinement or restraint was imposed in violation of the Constitution or the laws of the United States or of Massachusetts.
What grounds actually work. The Reporter's Notes to Rule 30 collect the recognized bases: ineffective assistance of counsel, an improper jury instruction, a prosecutor's failure to disclose exculpatory evidence, juror misconduct, a defendant's mental incompetence, newly discovered evidence, and testimony that a witness later recants.
Ineffective assistance is the one people ask about most — the sense that the lawyer did not do what should have been done. It is a recognized ground, and it is raised here, in the trial court, not on direct appeal.
Newly discovered evidence carries its own requirements. The Reporter's Notes describe a demanding standard: the evidence has to be genuinely new, unknown to the defendant and counsel and not discoverable through reasonable pretrial diligence, material and credible, and it has to cast real doubt on the justice of the conviction.
So there is no clock. There is something else instead, and it is stricter than a clock.
Rule 30(c)(2) is a waiver rule. Every ground for relief has to be raised in the original or amended motion. Grounds not raised there are waived, unless the judge in their discretion allows them later or they could not reasonably have been raised the first time.
The Reporter's Notes go further: a claim that was generally known and available at trial, on direct appeal, or in the first postconviction motion is waived.
The practical translation is that you ordinarily get one real attempt. A motion filed quickly, without the transcript, without the trial file, without knowing what the record actually shows, can burn the issue that would have worked.
This is the opposite problem from the 60-day deadline, and it is just as costly.
Rule 30(b) is also the correct way to attack a guilty plea or an admission to sufficient facts after sentencing. If what you regret is the plea rather than the verdict, this is the door — not a direct appeal.
And Rule 30(c)(5) gives the judge discretion to appoint counsel for a motion under this rule, and to allow costs such as a transcript, an investigator, or expert services. If you cannot afford a lawyer, ask the court about appointed counsel rather than assuming there is none.
If You Are Not a U.S. Citizen, Read This Part
There is a route here that has no deadline at all, and a great many people who qualify for it never learn it exists.
Under G.L. c. 278, § 29D, a court may not accept a guilty plea, a plea of nolo contendere, or an admission to sufficient facts unless it advises the defendant that acceptance of that plea may carry consequences of deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization.
The warning must be given at every plea colloquy. You are not required to disclose your immigration status at the time of the plea.
If the court failed to give that warning, and you later show — at any time — that the plea and conviction may have or has had one of those consequences, the court shall vacate the judgment, allow you to withdraw the plea, and enter a plea of not guilty. The statute says this applies even if you have already been deported.
Two details in the statute matter a great deal in practice. Absent an official record or a contemporaneously written record in the court file showing the warning was given — a docket sheet entry, for instance — you are presumed not to have received it.
And a warning given at some other plea colloquy, in another case, does not satisfy the requirement for this one.
If a conviction from years ago is now standing between someone in your family and a green card, a naturalization application, or a trip out of the country, this is worth a conversation.
What If the Finding Was a Probation Violation?
The same instincts apply, but the vehicle is different.
The Reporter's Notes to Rule 30 are explicit that irregularities in the probation revocation process are challenged through a direct appeal, and that a Rule 30(a) motion in that setting is appropriate only for challenging the legality of the sentence that was imposed — not the legality of the order revoking probation.
If that is your situation, our post on probation and probation violations in Massachusetts covers what the hearing itself involves.
What an Appeal Is Not
An appeal is not a retrial. Nobody testifies. The appellate court is not asked whether it would have decided the case differently. It is asked whether the trial court made a legal error serious enough to matter.
That is why what was said and objected to at trial governs so much of what can be raised later. An issue that was preserved gets full review.
An issue that was not preserved is reviewed, if at all, against a much harder standard — whether the error created a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice. The Reporter's Notes to Rule 30 set out how much narrower the judge's discretion becomes once a direct appeal has already been decided.
New evidence belongs somewhere else. Evidence that was genuinely unknown and not discoverable before is the province of a motion for a new trial, not an appeal.
None of this means an appeal is hopeless. It means the shape of the case was set in the trial court, and the work now is finding what is actually in that record.
Does the Sentence Stop While the Appeal Is Pending?
Not by itself. Under Massachusetts Rule of Criminal Procedure 31(a), entry of an appeal does not stay a sentence of imprisonment.
A stay has to be granted — by the judge who imposed the sentence, or by a single justice of the court that will hear the appeal. If a stay is allowed, the judge or justice may make an order about custody or admit the person to bail.
The Reporter's Notes are candid that sentences are not routinely stayed. Two things guide the decision.
The more important is the strength of the appeal — not that it is more likely than not to succeed, but that it presents an issue worth an appellate court's attention with some reasonable possibility of success.
The second is security: whether the person will appear, commit another offense, or present a danger.
Two more points worth knowing. A stay automatically expires when the appellate court releases a rescript affirming the conviction, unless the appellate court extends it, and the Commonwealth may then move in the trial court to execute the sentence.
And a fine is different from imprisonment: under Rule 31(c), a sentence to pay a fine is stayed on appeal where the appeal is diligently pursued. A disposition that is neither imprisonment nor a fine — probation, or a continuance without a finding — may be stayed in the judge's discretion under Rule 31(d).
What to Do Right Now
Write down the date. The date of sentencing, or of the verdict if it came later. Every deadline on this page is measured from a specific date, and the first thing any lawyer will ask is what that date is.
If the sentence was to state prison, treat this as a ten-day problem. That clock is running from the day sentence was imposed, and it is the one most easily lost.
Call a lawyer this week, not next month. Even where the news is that an option is not available, knowing that within days is better than discovering it in month three.
Do not assume your trial lawyer has filed it. Ask, directly, whether a notice of appeal was filed and on what date. Get the answer in writing.
Ask about appointed counsel if you cannot pay. Cost is a reason to ask the question sooner, not a reason to do nothing.
Keep everything. The docket sheet, the sentencing paperwork, any notices from the court. The transcript will need to be ordered, and that takes time.
If you are not a citizen, say so early. It changes which motion is the right one, and it may open a door that has no deadline on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How long do I have to appeal a conviction in Massachusetts?
A: Thirty days. Under Mass. R. App. P. 4(b)(1), the notice of appeal in a criminal case is filed with the clerk of the trial court within 30 days after entry of the judgment, appealable order, or adjudication, entry of a notice of appeal by the Commonwealth, or the imposition of sentence — whichever comes last.
Call 978-969-2890 if you are not sure which date applies to you.
Q: What is the ten-day appeal I keep hearing about?
A: That is a sentence appeal to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court under G.L. c. 278, §§ 28A and 28B. It applies to sentences to state prison imposed by final judgment, except where a different sentence could not have been imposed, and it must be filed within ten days of the imposition of sentence.
It reviews the sentence, not the conviction, and it is separate from a direct appeal.
Q: I missed the 30 days. Is it over?
A: Not necessarily. Rule 4(c) permits the trial court to extend the time by up to 30 days on a showing of excusable neglect. And a motion for a new trial under Rule 30 has no filing deadline at all.
Whether either fits your situation depends on the facts, and it is worth asking rather than assuming.
Q: Can the judge give me more time on the 60-day motion to revise or revoke?
A: No. The Reporter's Notes to Rule 29 state that the 60-day period remains jurisdictional. Once it passes, the judge lacks the power to extend it.
Q: My lawyer made mistakes at trial. Is that something I can raise?
A: Ineffective assistance of counsel is among the recognized grounds for a motion for a new trial under Rule 30. It is raised in the trial court rather than on direct appeal, and it generally requires the transcript and the trial file to evaluate.
Because of the waiver rule in Rule 30(c)(2), it is worth having the record reviewed before anything is filed.
Q: I am not a U.S. citizen and my old conviction is causing immigration problems. Is it too late?
A: Possibly not. Under G.L. c. 278, § 29D, where the court failed to give the required immigration advisement at the plea colloquy and you later show the plea may have or has had one of the enumerated consequences, the court shall vacate the judgment and allow the plea to be withdrawn.
There is no time limit, and the statute applies even to someone who has already been deported.
Q: Will I stay out of jail while my appeal is pending?
A: Not automatically. Under Rule 31(a), filing an appeal does not stay a sentence of imprisonment. A stay must be requested and granted, and the Reporter's Notes make clear that stays are not routine.
The strength of the appellate issue and whether you present a flight or safety concern both weigh in the decision.
Q: Does an appeal mean a new trial?
A: No. An appeal asks whether a legal error occurred, decided on the record that already exists.
If it succeeds, the result is usually that the case goes back to the trial court — not that you are automatically free. What happens after a successful appeal depends on the ruling.
Contact Ernest Stone Today
If you were recently found guilty or sentenced, the most useful thing you can do is find out which clocks are running in your case, and how much is left on them. That conversation does not take long, and it costs nothing.
Call 978-969-2890 for a free consultation with a Massachusetts criminal defense attorney. If you are calling about someone in your family, that consultation is free too.
You may also want to read how the Massachusetts criminal court process works from start to finish, what happens at a sentencing hearing, and what the criminal trial process involves.
We represent good people who had a really bad day.
H. Ernest Stone, Attorney PC
900 Cummings Center, Suite 321-U
Beverly, MA 01915
Phone: (978) 969-2890
Email: es@herneststone.com
We'll Get You Through the Storm
A guilty finding is not always the end of the case, and it is never the measure of the person.
With more than 30 years of experience defending clients throughout Massachusetts, we know which doors are still open after a verdict and how long they stay that way.
No lawyer can promise you an outcome, and you should be wary of one who does. What we can do is look honestly at what happened in your case and tell you what is left.
Don't wait. Call 978-969-2890 today.
