HB 601

This bill authorizes a district attorney general or a person convicted of a cri minal offense, at any time, to request relief under this bill by filing a petition alleging actual innocence based on new evidence, if a petition has not been previously filed and determined under this bill based on the same evidence. Relief under this b i ll does not require proof of an independent constitutional violation. This bill provides that a proceeding under this bill is commenced by filing a written petition alleging actual innocence based on new evidence with the court in which the conviction oc curred. The clerk must not charge a fee for the filing of the petition. A petition under this bill precludes filing a motion to reopen, or a petition, based upon the same new evidence. The petition must include allegations of fact supporting each claim for relief. The petition and any amended petition must be verified under oath. Affidavits, records, reports, or other evidence supporting the allegations in the petition may be attached to the petition. If the court determines that the petitioner has f iled a colorable claim alleging actual innocence, based on new evidence, then this bill requires the court to issue an order scheduling the matter for a hearing. The court must assume the veracity of the new evidence at the filing stage. At the hearing, the petitioner has the burden of proving that the new evidence establishes the petitioner's actual innocence. RELIEF This bill authorizes a petitioner to seek relief, irrespective of whether the conviction or finding of guilt was determined following a jury trial, plea of guilty, plea of best interest, or plea of no contest. If the court determines that the petitioner has shown that the new evidence establishes the petitioner's actual innocence, then the court must vacate the conviction and order a new trial. If the court determines that the petitioner has not shown that the new evidence establishes the petitioner's actual innocence, then the court must dismiss the petition. The order granting or denying relief is a final judgment, and an appeal may b e taken to the court of criminal appeals in the manner prescribed by the Tennessee rules of appellate procedure. For a petition filed under this bill, this bill requires the attorney general to represent the state if the petition seeks review of a judgmen t imposing a sentence of death. For all other petitions, the district attorney general must represent the state. After receiving a petition for relief under this bill, the clerk must mail a copy of the petition to the office representing the state. ON APRIL 7, 2025, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 601, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill. Present law establishes a proceeding by which a person convicted of a crime may petition for a writ to correct the judgment based on er rors outside the record and to matters that were not or could not have been litigated on the trial of the case, on a motion for a new trial, on appeal in the nature of a writ of error, on writ of error, or in a habeas corpus proceeding (a writ of error cor am nobis). This bill authorizes criminal defendants who plea d guilt y , best interest, or no contest to also petition for a writ of error coram nobis based on evidence that was, through no fault of the defendant, unknown to the defendant at the time of the plea. In cases in which the defendant entered a plea, the suing out of the writ commence s by order of the court for claims jointly presented for relief by the district attorney general and the convicted defendant.