SS1FORSB58 • 2025

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO POSTCONVICTION REMEDY.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Last action: 2025-05-14
Official status
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO POSTCONVICTION REMEDY.

What This Bill Does

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO POSTCONVICTION REMEDY.
This Act provides a remedy for convicted persons relating to changes in forensic scientific or technical information.
Specifically, a convicted person may apply to the Superior Court for relief if certain forensic scientific information was not available to be offered by the convicted person prior to the conviction or if it undermines forensic scientific evidence that was presented at trial.
The court must grant relief if (1) the convicted person files an application asserting that the relevant forensic evidence is currently available and was not ascertainable through the exercise of reasonable diligence by the convicted person before or during trial or before the date of entry of a plea, and (2) the court determines that, had the evidence been presented at a trial, there is a reasonable likelihood that the result at trial would have been different or that the convicted person would not have been convicted.

Limits and Unknowns

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Bill History

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Official Summary Text

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO POSTCONVICTION REMEDY.
This Act provides a remedy for convicted persons relating to changes in forensic scientific or technical information. Specifically, a convicted person may apply to the Superior Court for relief if certain forensic scientific information was not available to be offered by the convicted person prior to the conviction or if it undermines forensic scientific evidence that was presented at trial. The court must grant relief if (1) the convicted person files an application asserting that the relevant forensic evidence is currently available and was not ascertainable through the exercise of reasonable diligence by the convicted person before or during trial or before the date of entry of a plea, and (2) the court determines that, had the evidence been presented at a trial, there is a reasonable likelihood that the result at trial would have been different or that the convicted person would not have been convicted.

Once a petition for relief is filed, the Superior Court shall set a hearing