HF 2630

1st Engrossment - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to courts; limiting postconviction relief; 
  1.3             amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 590.01, 
  1.4             subdivision 1, by adding a subdivision. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 590.01, 
  1.7   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [PETITION.] Except at a time when direct 
  1.9   appellate relief is available, a person convicted of a crime, 
  1.10  who claims that: 
  1.11     (1) the conviction obtained or the sentence or other 
  1.12  disposition made violated the person's rights under the 
  1.13  Constitution or laws of the United States or of the state; or 
  1.14     (2) scientific evidence not available at trial, obtained 
  1.15  pursuant to a motion granted under subdivision 1a, establishes 
  1.16  the petitioner's actual innocence; 
  1.17  may commence a proceeding to secure relief by filing a petition 
  1.18  in the district court in the county in which the conviction was 
  1.19  had to vacate and set aside the judgment and to discharge the 
  1.20  petitioner or to resentence the petitioner or grant a new trial 
  1.21  or correct the sentence or make other disposition as may be 
  1.22  appropriate.  A petition for postconviction relief after a 
  1.23  direct appeal may not be based on grounds that could have been 
  1.24  raised on direct appeal of the conviction or sentence.  Nothing 
  1.25  contained herein shall prevent the Supreme Court or the Court of 
  2.1   Appeals, upon application by a party, from granting a stay of a 
  2.2   case on appeal for the purpose of allowing an appellant to apply 
  2.3   to the district court for an evidentiary hearing under the 
  2.4   provisions of this chapter.  The proceeding shall conform with 
  2.5   sections 590.01 to 590.06.  
  2.6      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 590.01, is 
  2.7   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.8      Subd. 4.  [TIME LIMIT.] (a) No petition for postconviction 
  2.9   relief may be filed more than two years after the later of: 
  2.10     (1) the entry of judgment of conviction or sentence if no 
  2.11  direct appeal is filed; or 
  2.12     (2) an appellate court's disposition of petitioner's direct 
  2.13  appeal. 
  2.14     (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), a court may hear a 
  2.15  petition for postconviction relief if: 
  2.16     (1) the petitioner establishes that a physical disability 
  2.17  or mental disease precluded a timely assertion of the claim; 
  2.18     (2) the petitioner alleges the existence of newly 
  2.19  discovered evidence, including scientific evidence, that could 
  2.20  not have been ascertained by the exercise of due diligence by 
  2.21  the petitioner or petitioner's attorney within the two-year time 
  2.22  period for filing a postconviction petition, and the evidence is 
  2.23  not cumulative to evidence presented at trial, is not for 
  2.24  impeachment purposes, and establishes by a clear and convincing 
  2.25  standard that the petitioner is innocent of the offense or 
  2.26  offenses for which the petitioner was convicted; 
  2.27     (3) the petitioner asserts a new interpretation of federal 
  2.28  or state constitutional or statutory law by either the United 
  2.29  States Supreme Court or Minnesota Supreme Court, and the 
  2.30  petitioner establishes that this interpretation is retroactively 
  2.31  applicable to the petitioner's case; 
  2.32     (4) the petition is brought pursuant to subdivision 3; or 
  2.33     (5) the petitioner establishes to the satisfaction of the 
  2.34  court that the petition is not frivolous and in the interests of 
  2.35  justice. 
  2.36     (c) Any petition invoking an exception provided in 
  3.1   paragraph (b) must be filed within two years of the date the 
  3.2   claim arises. 
  3.3      Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.4      Sections 1 and 2 are effective August 1, 2004.  Any person 
  3.5   whose conviction became final before August 1, 2004, shall have 
  3.6   two years after the effective date of this act to file a 
  3.7   petition for postconviction relief.