Banfield's Last Chance: What His Appeal Will Argue and Why It Probably Won't Work

 Life without parole. In Virginia, that's not a figure of speech. There's no parole board, no time off for good behavior, no path out. Brendan Banfield is 40 years old. Barring something extraordinary on appeal, he will die in a state prison.

So what does "extraordinary" look like? Defense attorney Bob Motta is here to explain what Banfield's appellate team is actually going to argue — and why most of it faces near-impossible odds.

First, let's be clear about what appeals are and aren't. They're not about whether the jury got it wrong. Appellate courts don't retry cas...