Rule 8 Questions which may be raised on appeal

If you want to raise an issue on appeal, you must have brought that same issue up during the original trial. You cannot wait until the appeal to bring up a new argument for the first time.

There is an exception to this. If fairness demands it, the appeals court can choose to look at an issue even if it was not raised at trial. This exception is not guaranteed, so it is risky to rely on it.

The main takeaway is simple: speak up during your trial. If something is wrong, say so then. Staying quiet and saving arguments for later will likely get those arguments thrown out on appeal.