SF 2253

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to criminal procedure; creating a 
  1.3             postconviction process for obtaining DNA or other 
  1.4             forensic testing of evidence in order to permit a 
  1.5             convicted person to demonstrate actual innocence; 
  1.6             amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 590.01, 
  1.7             subdivision 1, and by adding a subdivision. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 590.01, 
  1.10  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subdivision 1.  [PETITION.] Except at a time when direct 
  1.12  appellate relief is available, a person convicted of a crime, 
  1.13  who claims that: 
  1.14     (1) the conviction obtained or the sentence or other 
  1.15  disposition made violated the person's rights under the 
  1.16  Constitution or laws of the United States or of the state,; or 
  1.17     (2) scientific evidence not available at trial, obtained 
  1.18  pursuant to a motion granted under subdivision 1a, establishes 
  1.19  the petitioner's actual innocence; 
  1.20  may commence a proceeding to secure relief by filing a petition 
  1.21  in the district court in the county in which the conviction was 
  1.22  had to vacate and set aside the judgment and to discharge the 
  1.23  petitioner or to resentence the petitioner or grant a new trial 
  1.24  or correct the sentence or make other disposition as may be 
  1.25  appropriate.  Nothing contained herein shall prevent the supreme 
  1.26  court or the court of appeals, upon application by a party, from 
  2.1   granting a stay of a case on appeal for the purpose of allowing 
  2.2   an appellant to apply to the district court for an evidentiary 
  2.3   hearing under the provisions of this chapter.  The proceeding 
  2.4   shall conform with sections 590.01 to 590.06.  
  2.5      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 590.01, is 
  2.6   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.7      Subd. 1a.  [MOTION FOR FINGERPRINT OR FORENSIC TESTING NOT 
  2.8   AVAILABLE AT TRIAL.] (a) A person convicted of a crime may make 
  2.9   a motion for the performance of fingerprint or forensic DNA 
  2.10  testing to demonstrate the person's actual innocence if: 
  2.11     (1) the testing is to be performed on evidence secured in 
  2.12  relation to the trial which resulted in the conviction; and 
  2.13     (2) the evidence was not subject to the testing because 
  2.14  either the technology for the testing was not available at the 
  2.15  time of the trial or the testing was not admissible as evidence 
  2.16  at the time of the trial. 
  2.17  The motion shall be filed before the district court that entered 
  2.18  the judgment of conviction.  Reasonable notice of the motion 
  2.19  shall be served on the prosecuting attorney who represented the 
  2.20  state at trial. 
  2.21     (b) A person who makes a motion under paragraph (a) must 
  2.22  present a prima facie case that: 
  2.23     (1) identity was an issue in the trial; and 
  2.24     (2) the evidence to be tested has been subject to a chain 
  2.25  of custody sufficient to establish that it has not been 
  2.26  substituted, tampered with, replaced, or altered in any material 
  2.27  aspect. 
  2.28     (c) The court shall order that the testing be performed if: 
  2.29     (1) a prima facie case has been established under paragraph 
  2.30  (b); 
  2.31     (2) the testing has the scientific potential to produce 
  2.32  new, noncumulative evidence materially relevant to the 
  2.33  defendant's assertion of actual innocence; and 
  2.34     (3) the testing requested employs a scientific method 
  2.35  generally accepted within the relevant scientific community.  
  2.36  The court shall impose reasonable conditions on the testing 
  3.1   designed to protect the state's interests in the integrity of 
  3.2   the evidence and the testing process.