Virginia House Bill 258 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: Introduced on December 30 2019 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2020-02-11 - Left in Courts of Justice
Pending: House Courts of Justice Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Prefiled) [HTML]

Post-conviction relief; previously admitted scientific Post-conviction relief; previously admitted scientific evidence. Provides that a person who was convicted of certain offenses, upon a plea of not guilty or an Alford plea, or who was adjudicated delinquent, upon a plea of not guilty or an Alford plea, by a circuit court of an offense that would be a covered offense if committed by an adult may petition the Court of Appeals to have his conviction vacated. The petition shall allege (i) the covered offense for which the petitioner was convicted or adjudicated delinquent; (ii) that the petitioner did not commit the covered offense for which the petitioner was convicted or adjudicated delinquent, nor engage in conduct that would support a conviction for a lesser offense or any other crime arising from, or reasonably connected to, the facts supporting the indictment or information upon which he was convicted or adjudicated delinquent; (iii) an exact description of the forensic scientific evidence and its relevance in demonstrating that the petitioner did not commit the covered offense; (iv) specific facts indicating that relevant forensic scientific evidence was not available or could not have been obtained in the exercise of diligence before the expiration of 21 days following entry of the final order of conviction or adjudication of delinquency, or that discredited forensic scientific evidence was admitted at the petitioner's trial or adjudication of delinquency; and (v) that the admission of the discredited forensic scientific evidence or the absence of the newly available forensic scientific evidence was not harmless. The bill provides that if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the admission of the discredited forensic scientific evidence or the absence of the newly available forensic scientific evidence was not harmless, the court may grant the petition and vacate the petitioner's conviction, subject to retrial in the discretion of the Commonwealth. The bill has a delayed effective

Post-conviction relief; previously admitted scientific evidence, report.

Del. Marcus Simon [D]

2020-01-22 - House - House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 3-N) (Y: 5 N: 3 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]

Date	Chamber	Action
2020-02-11	House	Left in Courts of Justice
2020-01-22	House	Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 3-N)
2020-01-17	House	Assigned Courts sub: Criminal
2019-12-30	House	Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
2019-12-30	House	Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20101846D

Chapter	Article	Section	Citation Type	Statute Text
19	2	327.15	(n/a)	See Bill Text

Type	Source
Summary	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB258
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB258+hil
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+vot+H0801V0030+HB0258