The NJOPD's Appellate Section provides representation in the appeals filed by adults and juveniles in New Jersey from their lower court rulings. A direct appeal of a trial-court verdict is a right in New Jersey.

Most referrals to the Appellate Section come from defendants who previously had been represented through the NJOPD trial regions. However, direct applications also are received from people not originally represented by the NJOPD at the trial level.

In both cases, appeals typically deal with the larger constitutional issues raises by how the trial was conducted than with the individual facts presented at trial.

After filing a Notice of Appeal, appellate attorneys review the transcript of the trial, interview the defendants and do the research to identify problems that occurred at trial.

Assistant Public Defender Linda Biancardi oversees the Appellate Section, which has attorneys stationed in Newark and Trenton.

Newark Office:
31 Clinton Street
P.O. Box 46003
Newark, NJ 07101
Phone: 973-877-1200
Fax: 973-877-1239

Trenton Office:
25 Market Street
P.O. Box 850
Trenton, NJ 08625
Phone: 609-292-7087
Fax: 609-777-1795