2005 Minnesota Statutes

     590.01 Availability, conditions. 

    Subdivision 1.    Petition.  Except at a time when 
 direct appellate relief is available, a person convicted of a 
 crime, who claims that: 

    (1) the conviction obtained or the sentence or other 
 disposition made violated the person's rights under the 
 Constitution or laws of the United States or of the state; or 

    (2) scientific evidence not available at trial, obtained 
 pursuant to a motion granted under subdivision 1a, establishes 
 the petitioner's actual innocence; 

 may commence a proceeding to secure relief by filing a petition 
 in the district court in the county in which the conviction was 
 had to vacate and set aside the judgment and to discharge the 
 petitioner or to resentence the petitioner or grant a new trial 
 or correct the sentence or make other disposition as may be 
 appropriate.  A petition for postconviction relief after a 
 direct appeal has been completed may not be based on grounds 
 that could have been raised on direct appeal of the conviction 
 or sentence.  Nothing contained herein shall prevent the Supreme 
 Court or the Court of Appeals, upon application by a party, from 
 granting a stay of a case on appeal for the purpose of allowing 
 an appellant to apply to the district court for an evidentiary 
 hearing under the provisions of this chapter.  The proceeding 
 shall conform with sections 590.01 to 590.06.  

    Subd. 1a.    Motion for fingerprint or forensic testing 
 not available at trial.  (a) A person convicted of a crime may 
 make a motion for the performance of fingerprint or forensic DNA 
 testing to demonstrate the person's actual innocence if: 

    (1) the testing is to be performed on evidence secured in 
 relation to the trial which resulted in the conviction; and 

    (2) the evidence was not subject to the testing because 
 either the technology for the testing was not available at the 
 time of the trial or the testing was not available as evidence 
 at the time of the trial. 

 The motion shall be filed before the district court that entered 
 the judgment of conviction.  Reasonable notice of the motion 
 shall be served on the prosecuting attorney who represented the 
 state at trial. 

    (b) A person who makes a motion under paragraph (a) must 
 present a prima facie case that: 

    (1) identity was an issue in the trial; and 

    (2) the evidence to be tested has been subject to a chain 
 of custody sufficient to establish that it has not been 
 substituted, tampered with, replaced, or altered in any material 
 aspect. 

    (c) The court shall order that the testing be performed if: 

    (1) a prima facie case has been established under paragraph 
 (b); 

    (2) the testing has the scientific potential to produce 
 new, noncumulative evidence materially relevant to the 
 defendant's assertion of actual innocence; and 

    (3) the testing requested employs a scientific method 
 generally accepted within the relevant scientific community.  
 The court shall impose reasonable conditions on the testing 
 designed to protect the state's interests in the integrity of 
 the evidence and the testing process.  

    Subd. 2.    Remedy.  This remedy takes the place of any 
 other common law, statutory or other remedies which may have 
 been available for challenging the validity of a conviction, 
 sentence, or other disposition and must be used exclusively in 
 place of them unless it is inadequate or ineffective to test the 
 legality of the conviction, sentence or other disposition.  

    Subd. 3.    Application for relief.  A person who has 
 been convicted and sentenced for a crime committed before May 1, 
 1980, may institute a proceeding applying for relief under this 
 chapter upon the ground that a significant change in substantive 
 or procedural law has occurred which, in the interest of 
 justice, should be applied retrospectively, including 
 resentencing under subsequently enacted law.  

    No petition seeking resentencing shall be granted unless 
 the court makes specific findings of fact that release of the 
 petitioner prior to the time the petitioner would be released 
 under the sentence currently being served does not present a 
 danger to the public and is not incompatible with the welfare of 
 society. 

    Subd. 4.    Time limit.  (a) No petition for 
 postconviction relief may be filed more than two years after the 
 later of: 

    (1) the entry of judgment of conviction or sentence if no 
 direct appeal is filed; or 

    (2) an appellate court's disposition of petitioner's direct 
 appeal. 

    (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), a court may hear a 
 petition for postconviction relief if: 

    (1) the petitioner establishes that a physical disability 
 or mental disease precluded a timely assertion of the claim; 

    (2) the petitioner alleges the existence of newly 
 discovered evidence, including scientific evidence, that could 
 not have been ascertained by the exercise of due diligence by 
 the petitioner or petitioner's attorney within the two-year time 
 period for filing a postconviction petition, and the evidence is 
 not cumulative to evidence presented at trial, is not for 
 impeachment purposes, and establishes by a clear and convincing 
 standard that the petitioner is innocent of the offense or 
 offenses for which the petitioner was convicted; 

    (3) the petitioner asserts a new interpretation of federal 
 or state constitutional or statutory law by either the United 
 States Supreme Court or a Minnesota appellate court and the 
 petitioner establishes that this interpretation is retroactively 
 applicable to the petitioner's case; 

    (4) the petition is brought pursuant to subdivision 3; or 

    (5) the petitioner establishes to the satisfaction of the 
 court that the petition is not frivolous and is in the interests 
 of justice.  

    (c) Any petition invoking an exception provided in 
 paragraph (b) must be filed within two years of the date the 
 claim arises. 

    HIST: 1967 c 336 s 1; 1969 c 491 s 1; 1981 c 366 s 1; 1983 c 
 247 s 201; 1986 c 444; 1Sp1986 c 3 art 1 s 65; 1999 c 216 art 3 
 s 2,3; 2005 c 136 art 14 s 12,13