1.1 A bill for an act
1.2 relating to judiciary; permitting petition to court for relief from stay of adjudication;
1.3 amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 590.01.
1.4BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.5 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 590.01, is amended to read:
1.6 590.01 AVAILABILITY, CONDITIONS.
1.7 Subdivision 1.Petition.Except at a time when direct appellate relief is available, a
1.8person convicted of a crime, or who received a stay of adjudication who claims that:
1.9 (1) the conviction or stay of adjudication obtained, or the sentence or other disposition
1.10made, violated the person's rights under the Constitution or laws of the United States or of
1.11the state; or
1.12 (2) scientific evidence not available at trial, obtained pursuant to a motion granted under
1.13subdivision 1a, establishes the petitioner's actual innocence;
1.14may commence a proceeding to secure relief by filing a petition in the district court in the
1.15county in which the conviction or stay of adjudication was had to vacate and set aside the
1.16judgment and to discharge the petitioner or to resentence the petitioner or grant a new trial
1.17or correct the sentence or make other disposition as may be appropriate. A petition for
1.18postconviction relief after a direct appeal has been completed may not be based on grounds
1.19that could have been raised on direct appeal of the conviction, stay of adjudication, or
1.20sentence. Nothing contained herein shall prevent the supreme court or the court of appeals,
1.21upon application by a party, from granting a stay of a case on appeal for the purpose of
1Section 1.
REVISOR KLL/BM 25-0455903/11/25
State of Minnesota
This Document can be made available
in alternative formats upon request
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H. F. No. 2521
NINETY-FOURTH SESSION
Authored by Frazier03/20/2025
The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Judiciary Finance and Civil Law 2.1allowing an appellant to apply to the district court for an evidentiary hearing under the
2.2provisions of this chapter. The proceeding shall conform with sections 590.01 to 590.06.
2.3 Subd. 1a.Motion for fingerprint or forensic testing not available at trial.(a) A person
2.4convicted of a crime, or who received a stay of adjudication, may make a motion for the
2.5performance of fingerprint or forensic DNA testing to demonstrate the person's actual
2.6innocence if:
2.7 (1) the testing is to be performed on evidence secured in relation to the trial which
2.8resulted in the conviction or plea; and
2.9 (2) the evidence was not subject to the testing because either the technology for the
2.10testing was not available at the time of the trial or the testing was not available as evidence
2.11at the time of the trial.
2.12The motion shall be filed before the district court that entered the judgment of conviction
2.13or stay of adjudication. Reasonable notice of the motion shall be served on the prosecuting
2.14attorney who represented the state at trial.
2.15 (b) A person who makes a motion under paragraph (a) must present a prima facie case
2.16that:
2.17 (1) identity was an issue in the trial; and
2.18 (2) the evidence to be tested has been subject to a chain of custody sufficient to establish
2.19that it has not been substituted, tampered with, replaced, or altered in any material aspect.
2.20 (c) The court shall order that the testing be performed if:
2.21 (1) a prima facie case has been established under paragraph (b);
2.22 (2) the testing has the scientific potential to produce new, noncumulative evidence
2.23materially relevant to the defendant's assertion of actual innocence; and
2.24 (3) the testing requested employs a scientific method generally accepted within the
2.25relevant scientific community. The court shall impose reasonable conditions on the testing
2.26designed to protect the state's interests in the integrity of the evidence and the testing process.
2.27 Subd. 2.Remedy.This remedy takes the place of any other common law, statutory or
2.28other remedies which may have been available for challenging the validity of a stay of
2.29adjudication, conviction, sentence, or other disposition and must be used exclusively in
2.30place of them unless it is inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of the stay of
2.31adjudication, conviction, sentence or other disposition.
2Section 1.
REVISOR KLL/BM 25-0455903/11/25 3.1 Subd. 3.Application for relief.A person who has been convicted or received a stay of
3.2adjudication and sentenced for a crime committed before May 1, 1980, may institute a
3.3proceeding applying for relief under this chapter upon the ground that a significant change
3.4in substantive or procedural law has occurred which, in the interest of justice, should be
3.5applied retrospectively, including resentencing under subsequently enacted law.
3.6 No petition seeking resentencing shall be granted unless the court makes specific findings
3.7of fact that release of the petitioner prior to the time the petitioner would be released under
3.8the sentence currently being served does not present a danger to the public and is not
3.9incompatible with the welfare of society.
3.10 Subd. 4.Time limit.(a) No petition for postconviction relief may be filed more than
3.11two years after the later of:
3.12 (1) the entry of judgment of conviction, stay of adjudication, or sentence if no direct
3.13appeal is filed; or
3.14 (2) an appellate court's disposition of petitioner's direct appeal.
3.15 (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), a court may hear a petition for postconviction relief
3.16if:
3.17 (1) the petitioner establishes that a physical disability or mental disease precluded a
3.18timely assertion of the claim;
3.19 (2) the petitioner alleges the existence of newly discovered evidence, including scientific
3.20evidence, that provides facts necessary to sustain one or more legally cognizable claims for
3.21postconviction relief, if such evidence could not have been ascertained by the exercise of
3.22due diligence by the petitioner or petitioner's attorney within the two-year time period for
3.23filing a postconviction petition, is not cumulative to evidence presented at trial, and is not
3.24for impeachment purposes;
3.25 (3) the petitioner asserts a new interpretation of federal or state constitutional or statutory
3.26law by either the United States Supreme Court or a Minnesota appellate court and the
3.27petitioner establishes that this interpretation is retroactively applicable to the petitioner's
3.28case;
3.29 (4) the petition is brought pursuant to subdivision 3; or
3.30 (5) the petitioner establishes to the satisfaction of the court that the petition is not frivolous
3.31and is in the interests of justice.
3Section 1.
REVISOR KLL/BM 25-0455903/11/25 4.1 (c) Any petition invoking an exception provided in paragraph (b) must be filed within
4.2two years of the date the claim arises.
4Section 1.
REVISOR KLL/BM 25-0455903/11/25