90 DAY FIANCÉ What is going on with Geoffrey Paschel’s appeal?

90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days star Varya Malina shared an Instagram post on Tuesday inviting her followers to go to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in Knoxville today to show support for her fiancé, Geoffrey Paschel.

Geoffrey, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the brutal assault and kidnapping of his former fiancée in June of 2019, was scheduled to have oral arguments for an appeal today.

Varya’s post had many fans confused because Geoffrey previously filed an appeal that was denied. To help clarify, Starcasm put together a quick summary of what is going on with his case.

GEOFFREY PASCHEL NEW APPEAL RECAP

After Geoffrey’s sentencing in February of 2022, his attorney filed a motion for a new trial. That motion was denied.

Geoffrey then filed an appeal hoping to overturn his conviction and/or lessen his harsh prison sentence. The Tennessee Court of Appeals denied Geoffrey’s appeal and affirmed the trial court’s judgment on September 14, 2023.

Geoffrey applied to appeal the decision to the Tennessee Supreme Court in November of 2023. That application was denied.

A defendant is allowed to file multiple appeals if the merits of the appeal differ. Geoffrey filed a Petition for Post-Conviction Relief (appeal) to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in March of 2025 alleging that he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel at trial.

It’s ironic that Geoffrey’s new petition was based on not having effective counsel because the petition that was filed did not include a finalized version with Geoffrey’s signature. The filing was also missing attorney affidavits. That was a major problem because Geoffrey had a limited amount of time in which he could file and the incomplete petition was filed one day before the deadline.

Five days later, the State filed a motion to dismiss Geoffrey’s petition “because it was not verified or signed by Paschel, the attorney affidavits were not attached, and the statute of limitations had now run, precluding the filing of a new petition.” The next day, Geoffrey’s attorney filed the signed petition with the required affidavits. This was nearly a week after the deadline to file.

The court ruled in favor of the State and dismissed Geoffrey’s petition. Geoffrey has appealed that decision, and this is the appeal that was scheduled for oral arguments today. So essentially, he has appealed the dismissal of his appeal.

It’s interesting to note that Geoffrey’s attorney accidentally filed a reply brief in December that had a “Draft” watermark on it. She later filed a request to the court to refile the brief without the watermark and that request was granted.

The panel of judges will weigh the merits of the oral arguments and issue a ruling. Starcasm will continue to monitor the case and share their decision.

Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com