The law, in plain language.

A higher state court reviews what was already in the trial record. The argument is that the trial court got the law wrong, the evidence was not enough, or her constitutional rights were violated at trial. No new evidence can be added at this stage.

If newly discovered evidence could have changed the verdict, she can ask the trial court for a new trial. Deadlines differ widely: some states allow only days after the verdict, others a year or more for evidence that could not have been found earlier.

Sentence modification asks the sentencing judge to reduce the sentence, usually within months of sentencing. Sentence review asks a panel of judges to review its length, usually within weeks. In some states, including Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana and New Hampshire, a review panel can also increase it. In Rhode Island, asking for a reduction allows the Attorney General to ask for an increase.

For challenges the trial record does not show: ineffective assistance of counsel, evidence the prosecution hid (a Brady violation), false testimony, a plea she did not understand, or new evidence. States call it different names: a Rule 3.850 motion in Florida, a 440 motion in New York, a PCRA petition in Pennsylvania, and state habeas corpus in California and Texas. Most states allow only one.

Some states have a separate petition for new evidence of innocence, sometimes with no deadline; Virginia and Maryland call it a writ of actual innocence. Every state has a DNA testing law. Several states, starting with Texas in 2013, allow a new petition when the forensic science used to convict her has changed. In 2026, Oregon opened a new petition for convictions based on hair comparison, bite-mark analysis or bullet-lead analysis, with a two-year window for people whose appeals are over. For survivors of abuse: Some states have laws written for survivors of domestic violence. New York's Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act lets a survivor sentenced to a term of 8 years or more, for an offense committed before the law took effect, ask to be resentenced, using official court forms. Illinois lets a survivor of domestic or gender-based violence convicted of a forcible felony ask to be resentenced when evidence of the abuse was not presented at sentencing, and the usual two-year limit does not apply. N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law § 440.47; 735 ILCS 5/2-1401(b-5).

Asks a federal district court to release her because her state conviction violates the U.S. Constitution. The deadline is one year from the day her conviction became final, paused while a state petition filed on time is pending. A convincing showing of actual innocence is a gateway past the deadline, but the standard is demanding and unexplained delay counts against her. McQuiggin v. Perkins, 569 U.S. 383 (2013). For a federal conviction, the form is a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255.

When the courts have closed every door, the executive branch has not. A clemency petition asks for a commutation, which shortens the sentence, or a pardon. In most states the governor decides; in some, a board decides or must recommend first. For a federal conviction, only the president can grant it. It is not a court case. Tell the story, gather the documents and collect letters of support.