Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

Minnesota Senate Bill SF2826 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1.1 A bill for an act
2	2	1.2 relating to judiciary; permitting petition to court for relief from stay of adjudication;
3	3	1.3 amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 590.01.
4	4	1.4BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
5	5	1.5 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 590.01, is amended to read:
6	6	1.6 590.01 AVAILABILITY, CONDITIONS.
7	7	1.7 Subdivision 1.Petition.Except at a time when direct appellate relief is available, a
8	8	1.8person convicted of a crime, or who received a stay of adjudication who claims that:
9	9	1.9 (1) the conviction or stay of adjudication obtained, or the sentence or other disposition
10	10	1.10made, violated the person's rights under the Constitution or laws of the United States or of
11	11	1.11the state; or
12	12	1.12 (2) scientific evidence not available at trial, obtained pursuant to a motion granted under
13	13	1.13subdivision 1a, establishes the petitioner's actual innocence;
14	14	1.14may commence a proceeding to secure relief by filing a petition in the district court in the
15	15	1.15county in which the conviction or stay of adjudication was had to vacate and set aside the
16	16	1.16judgment and to discharge the petitioner or to resentence the petitioner or grant a new trial
17	17	1.17or correct the sentence or make other disposition as may be appropriate. A petition for
18	18	1.18postconviction relief after a direct appeal has been completed may not be based on grounds
19	19	1.19that could have been raised on direct appeal of the conviction, stay of adjudication, or
20	20	1.20sentence. Nothing contained herein shall prevent the supreme court or the court of appeals,
21	21	1.21upon application by a party, from granting a stay of a case on appeal for the purpose of
22	22	1Section 1.
23	23	25-04559 as introduced03/11/25 REVISOR KLL/BM
24	24	SENATE
25	25	STATE OF MINNESOTA
26	26	S.F. No. 2826NINETY-FOURTH SESSION
27	27	(SENATE AUTHORS: OUMOU VERBETEN)
28	28	OFFICIAL STATUSD-PGDATE
29	29	Introduction and first reading03/20/2025
30	30	Referred to Judiciary and Public Safety 2.1allowing an appellant to apply to the district court for an evidentiary hearing under the
31	31	2.2provisions of this chapter. The proceeding shall conform with sections 590.01 to 590.06.
32	32	2.3 Subd. 1a.Motion for fingerprint or forensic testing not available at trial.(a) A person
33	33	2.4convicted of a crime, or who received a stay of adjudication, may make a motion for the
34	34	2.5performance of fingerprint or forensic DNA testing to demonstrate the person's actual
35	35	2.6innocence if:
36	36	2.7 (1) the testing is to be performed on evidence secured in relation to the trial which
37	37	2.8resulted in the conviction or plea; and
38	38	2.9 (2) the evidence was not subject to the testing because either the technology for the
39	39	2.10testing was not available at the time of the trial or the testing was not available as evidence
40	40	2.11at the time of the trial.
41	41	2.12The motion shall be filed before the district court that entered the judgment of conviction
42	42	2.13or stay of adjudication. Reasonable notice of the motion shall be served on the prosecuting
43	43	2.14attorney who represented the state at trial.
44	44	2.15 (b) A person who makes a motion under paragraph (a) must present a prima facie case
45	45	2.16that:
46	46	2.17 (1) identity was an issue in the trial; and
47	47	2.18 (2) the evidence to be tested has been subject to a chain of custody sufficient to establish
48	48	2.19that it has not been substituted, tampered with, replaced, or altered in any material aspect.
49	49	2.20 (c) The court shall order that the testing be performed if:
50	50	2.21 (1) a prima facie case has been established under paragraph (b);
51	51	2.22 (2) the testing has the scientific potential to produce new, noncumulative evidence
52	52	2.23materially relevant to the defendant's assertion of actual innocence; and
53	53	2.24 (3) the testing requested employs a scientific method generally accepted within the
54	54	2.25relevant scientific community. The court shall impose reasonable conditions on the testing
55	55	2.26designed to protect the state's interests in the integrity of the evidence and the testing process.
56	56	2.27 Subd. 2.Remedy.This remedy takes the place of any other common law, statutory or
57	57	2.28other remedies which may have been available for challenging the validity of a stay of
58	58	2.29adjudication, conviction, sentence, or other disposition and must be used exclusively in
59	59	2.30place of them unless it is inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of the stay of
60	60	2.31adjudication, conviction, sentence or other disposition.
61	61	2Section 1.
62	62	25-04559 as introduced03/11/25 REVISOR KLL/BM 3.1 Subd. 3.Application for relief.A person who has been convicted or received a stay of
63	63	3.2adjudication and sentenced for a crime committed before May 1, 1980, may institute a
64	64	3.3proceeding applying for relief under this chapter upon the ground that a significant change
65	65	3.4in substantive or procedural law has occurred which, in the interest of justice, should be
66	66	3.5applied retrospectively, including resentencing under subsequently enacted law.
67	67	3.6 No petition seeking resentencing shall be granted unless the court makes specific findings
68	68	3.7of fact that release of the petitioner prior to the time the petitioner would be released under
69	69	3.8the sentence currently being served does not present a danger to the public and is not
70	70	3.9incompatible with the welfare of society.
71	71	3.10 Subd. 4.Time limit.(a) No petition for postconviction relief may be filed more than
72	72	3.11two years after the later of:
73	73	3.12 (1) the entry of judgment of conviction, stay of adjudication, or sentence if no direct
74	74	3.13appeal is filed; or
75	75	3.14 (2) an appellate court's disposition of petitioner's direct appeal.
76	76	3.15 (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), a court may hear a petition for postconviction relief
77	77	3.16if:
78	78	3.17 (1) the petitioner establishes that a physical disability or mental disease precluded a
79	79	3.18timely assertion of the claim;
80	80	3.19 (2) the petitioner alleges the existence of newly discovered evidence, including scientific
81	81	3.20evidence, that provides facts necessary to sustain one or more legally cognizable claims for
82	82	3.21postconviction relief, if such evidence could not have been ascertained by the exercise of
83	83	3.22due diligence by the petitioner or petitioner's attorney within the two-year time period for
84	84	3.23filing a postconviction petition, is not cumulative to evidence presented at trial, and is not
85	85	3.24for impeachment purposes;
86	86	3.25 (3) the petitioner asserts a new interpretation of federal or state constitutional or statutory
87	87	3.26law by either the United States Supreme Court or a Minnesota appellate court and the
88	88	3.27petitioner establishes that this interpretation is retroactively applicable to the petitioner's
89	89	3.28case;
90	90	3.29 (4) the petition is brought pursuant to subdivision 3; or
91	91	3.30 (5) the petitioner establishes to the satisfaction of the court that the petition is not frivolous
92	92	3.31and is in the interests of justice.
93	93	3Section 1.
94	94	25-04559 as introduced03/11/25 REVISOR KLL/BM 4.1 (c) Any petition invoking an exception provided in paragraph (b) must be filed within
95	95	4.2two years of the date the claim arises.
96	96	4Section 1.
97	97	25-04559 as introduced03/11/25 REVISOR KLL/BM