The term appellants refer to a person who has filed an appeal with a court. An appeal is a request for a higher-level court to refer a case to determine if all legal proceedings and sentencing was done properly. If here is any type of legal proceeding that was not properly followed, then the higher court may rule that a new trial is necessary or they may make changes to the ruling, depending on the case. When the appeal is brought to the upper court, at that point the defendant (or sentenced criminal) is then referred to an appellant in a court of law. The appeal process is based on facts from the previous case's record. The higher court does not considered any additional evidence in the case, but will only verify the information from the previous case.