Asked 7/12/2016 – Houston, TX

In post-conviction proceedings appealing the decision of the state circuit court to the state appellate court, the state appellate court, in reviewing the records of the case, found that “there was no factual basis” to the guilty plea on which the conviction rested. However, the appellate court concluded that I did not raised this matter in the initial post-conviction petition to the lower court, and it was therefore not before it. Isn’t this an error of the appellate court? If the higher court, on its own, finds an error committed by the lower court, especially an error of such constitutional magnitude, is it not obligated to correct the error on its own?

Answer

Courts of Appeal do not correct errors on their own. They will only rule on matters listed in the alleged points of error, and if any errors are discovered, the case is returned to the lower court for that court to cure the error.