The right to appeal, the duty to obey court orders, and the legal questions surrounding absconding after conviction

The filing of an appeal does not, by itself, suspend the operation of a conviction or sentence. Those remedies exist because an appeal alone does not automatically remove the legal effect of the judgment being challenged. Courts that apply it do so cautiously because it touches on the fundamental right of access to justice and the right to appeal. The objective should not be to punish a person for exercising an appeal right. At the same time, a conviction does not mean that a person loses the right to seek justice from a higher court.