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SENATE BILL NO. 1035
A bill to amend 1927 PA 175, entitled
"The code of criminal procedure,"
by amending section 16 of chapter X (MCL 770.16), as amended by
2015 PA 229.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
CHAPTER X 1
Sec. 16. (1) Notwithstanding the limitations of section 2 of 2
this chapter and subject to subsection (13), a defendant convicted 3
of a felony at trial before January 8, 2001 who is serving a prison 4
sentence for the felony conviction may petition the circuit court 5
to order DNA testing of biological material identified during the 6
June 11, 2026, Introduced by Senators IRWIN, CHANG, CAVANAGH, GEISS and SHINK and
referred to Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety.
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investigation leading to his or her the defendant's conviction, and 1
for a new trial based on the results of that testing. 2
Notwithstanding the limitations of section 2 of this chapter, a 3
defendant convicted of a felony at trial on or after January 8, 4
2001 who establishes that all of the following apply may petition 5
the circuit court to order DNA testing of biological material 6
identified during the investigation leading to his or her 7
conviction, and for a new trial based on the results of that 8
testing:A petition filed under this subsection must establish that 9
either of the following circumstances apply to the biological 10
material: 11
(a) That DNA testing was done in the case or under this act. 12
(b) That the results of the testing were inconclusive. 13
(c) That testing with current DNA technology is likely to 14
result in conclusive results. 15
(a) It was not subjected to DNA testing. 16
(b) It was subjected to DNA testing and 1 or both of the 17
following circumstances apply: 18
(i) The defendant is requesting DNA testing using a method or 19
technology that provides a reasonable likelihood of results that 20
are more accurate and probative than the results of the previous 21
test. 22
(ii) The court determines that granting the petition is in the 23
interest of justice. 24
(2) A petition under this section shall must be filed in the 25
circuit court for the county in which the defendant was sentenced 26
and shall must be assigned to the sentencing judge or his or her 27
the judge's successor. The petition shall must be served on the 28
prosecuting attorney of the county in which the defendant was 29
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sentenced. 1
(3) A petition under this section shall must allege that 2
biological material was collected and identified during the 3
investigation of the defendant's case. If the defendant, after 4
diligent investigation, is unable to discover the location of the 5
identified biological material or to determine whether the 6
biological material is no longer available, the defendant may 7
petition the court for a hearing to determine whether the 8
identified biological material is available. If the court 9
determines that identified biological material was collected during 10
the investigation, the court shall order appropriate police 11
agencies, hospitals, or the medical examiner to search for the 12
material and to report the results of the search to the court. 13
(4) The court shall order DNA testing if the defendant does 14
all presents prima facie evidence of both of the following: 15
(a) Presents prima facie proof that the evidence sought to be 16
tested is material to the issue of the convicted person's identity 17
as the perpetrator of, or accomplice to, the crime that resulted in 18
the conviction. 19
(b) Establishes all of the following by clear and convincing 20
evidence: 21
(i) A sample of identified biological material described in 22
subsection (1) is available for DNA testing. 23
(ii) The identified biological material described in subsection 24
(1) was not previously subjected to DNA testing or, if previously 25
tested, will be subject to DNA testing technology that was not 26
available when the defendant was convicted. 27
(iii) The identity of the defendant as the perpetrator of the 28
crime was at issue during his or her trial. 29
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(a) The biological material sought to be tested is material to 1
the issue of the convicted defendant's identity as the perpetrator 2
of, or accomplice to, the crime that resulted in the conviction. 3
(b) A sample of identified biological material is available 4
for DNA testing. 5
(5) The court shall state its findings of fact on the record 6
or shall make written findings of fact supporting its decision to 7
grant or deny a petition brought under this section. 8
(6) If the court grants a petition for DNA testing under this 9
section, the identified biological material and a biological sample 10
obtained from the defendant shall must be subjected to DNA testing 11
by a laboratory approved by the court. If the court determines that 12
the applicant is indigent, the cost of DNA testing ordered under 13
this section shall must be borne by the state. The results of the 14
DNA testing shall must be provided to the court and to the 15
defendant and the prosecuting attorney. Upon On motion by either 16
party, the court may order that copies of the testing protocols, 17
laboratory procedures, laboratory notes, and other relevant records 18
compiled by the testing laboratory be provided to the court and to 19
all parties. 20
(7) If the results of the DNA testing are inconclusive or show 21
that the defendant is the source of the identified biological 22
material, both of the following apply: 23
(a) The court shall deny the motion for new trial. 24
(b) The defendant's DNA profile shall must be provided to the 25
department of state police for inclusion under the DNA 26
identification profiling system act, 1990 PA 250, MCL 28.171 to 27
28.176. 28
(8) If the results of the DNA testing show that the defendant 29
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is not the source of the identified biological material, the court 1
shall appoint counsel pursuant to MCR 6.505(A) and hold a hearing 2
to determine by clear and convincing evidence all of the 3
following:call into question the defendant's identity as the 4
perpetrator, the court shall appoint counsel as provided in MCR 5
6.505(A) and hold a hearing to determine whether the results of the 6
testing, along with any other new evidence, make a different result 7
probable on retrial. 8
(a) That only the perpetrator of the crime or crimes for which 9
the defendant was convicted could be the source of the identified 10
biological material. 11
(b) That the identified biological material was collected, 12
handled, and preserved by procedures that allow the court to find 13
that the identified biological material is not contaminated or is 14
not so degraded that the DNA profile of the tested sample of the 15
identified biological material cannot be determined to be identical 16
to the DNA profile of the sample initially collected during the 17
investigation described in subsection (1). 18
(c) That the defendant's purported exclusion as the source of 19
the identified biological material, balanced against the other 20
evidence in the case, is sufficient to justify the grant of a new 21
trial. 22
(9) Upon On motion of the prosecutor, the court shall order 23
retesting of the identified biological material and shall stay the 24
defendant's motion for new trial pending the results of the DNA 25
retesting. 26
(10) The court shall state its findings of fact on the record 27
or make written findings of fact supporting its decision to grant 28
or deny the defendant a new trial under this section. 29
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Notwithstanding section 3 of this chapter, an aggrieved party may 1
appeal the court's decision to grant or deny the petition for DNA 2
testing and for new trial by application for leave granted by the 3
court of appeals. 4
(11) If the name of the victim of the felony conviction 5
described in subsection (1) is known, the prosecuting attorney 6
shall give written notice of a petition under this section to the 7
victim. The notice shall must be by first-class mail to the 8
victim's last known address. Upon On the victim's request, the 9
prosecuting attorney shall give the victim notice of the time and 10
place of any hearing on the petition and shall inform the victim of 11
the court's grant or denial of a new trial to the defendant. 12
(12) The investigating law enforcement agency shall preserve 13
any biological material identified during the investigation of a 14
crime or crimes for which any person may file a petition for DNA 15
testing under this section. The identified biological material 16
shall must be preserved for the period of time that any person a 17
defendant is incarcerated in connection with that case.or is 18
litigating a claim under this section. 19
(13) A petition under this section must be filed with respect 20
to a particular case while the defendant is housed within a 21
correctional facility maintained and operated by the department of 22
corrections. Once a defendant is released, an ongoing petition must 23
be allowed to continue. 24
(14) As used in this section, "biological material" includes 25
any evidence for which there is a reasonable probability of 26
containing quantities of DNA from any human body product. 27