                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

MOTION BY A CONVICTED FELON OR PERSON ADJUDICATED DELINQUENT FOR SCIENTIFIC
ANALYSIS OF NEWLY DISCOVERED OR PREVIOUSLY UNTESTED SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE;
PROCEDURE (§ 19.2-327.1)

A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law or rule of court, any person
convicted of a felony or any person who was adjudicated delinquent by a circuit
court of an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult may, by
motion to the circuit court that entered the original conviction or the
adjudication of delinquency, apply for a new scientific investigation of any
human biological evidence related to the case that resulted in the felony
conviction or adjudication of delinquency if (i) the evidence was not known or
available at the time the conviction or adjudication of delinquency became final
in the circuit court or the evidence was not previously subjected to testing;
(ii) the evidence is subject to a chain of custody sufficient to establish that
the evidence has not been altered, tampered with, or substituted in any way;
(iii) the testing is materially relevant, noncumulative, and necessary and may
prove the actual innocence of the convicted person or the person adjudicated
delinquent; (iv) the testing requested involves a scientific method generally
accepted within the relevant scientific community; and (v) the person convicted
or adjudicated delinquent has not unreasonably delayed the filing of the
petition after the evidence or the test for the evidence became available.

B. The petitioner shall assert categorically and with specificity, under oath,
the facts to support the items enumerated in subsection A and (i) the crime for
which the person was convicted or adjudicated delinquent, (ii) the reason or
reasons the evidence was not known or tested by the time the conviction or
adjudication of delinquency became final in the circuit court, and (iii) the
reason or reasons that the newly discovered or untested evidence may prove the
actual innocence of the person convicted or adjudicated delinquent. Such motion
shall contain all relevant allegations and facts that are known to the
petitioner at the time of filing and shall enumerate and include all previous
records, applications, petitions, and appeals and their dispositions.

C. The petitioner shall serve a copy of such motion upon the attorney for the
Commonwealth. The Commonwealth shall file its response to the motion within 30
days of the receipt of service. The court shall, no sooner than 30 and no later
than 90 days after such motion is filed, hear the motion.

D. The court shall, after a hearing on the motion, set forth its findings
specifically as to each of the items enumerated in subsections A and B and
either (i) dismiss the motion for failure to comply with the requirements of
this section or (ii) dismiss the motion for failure to state a claim upon which
relief can be granted or (iii) order that the testing be done.

E. The court shall order the tests to be performed by:

   1. A laboratory mutually selected by the Commonwealth and the applicant; or

   2. A laboratory selected by the court that ordered the testing if the
   Commonwealth and the applicant are unable to agree on a laboratory.
   				If the testing is conducted by the Department of Forensic Science, the
   court shall prescribe in its order, pursuant to standards and guidelines
   established by the Department, the method of custody, transfer, and return of
   evidence submitted for scientific investigation sufficient to insure and
   protect the Commonwealth&#8217;s interest in the integrity of the evidence.
   The results of any such testing shall be furnished simultaneously to the
   court, the petitioner and his attorney of record and the attorney for the
   Commonwealth. The results of any tests performed and any hearings held
   pursuant to this section shall become a part of the record.
   				If the testing is not conducted by the Department of Forensic Science, it
   shall be conducted by a laboratory that is accredited by an accrediting body
   that requires conformance to forensic-specific requirements and that is a
   signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC)
   Mutual Recognition Arrangement with a scope of accreditation that covers the
   testing being performed and follows the appropriate Quality Assurance
   Standards issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

F. An action under this section or the performance of any attorney representing
the petitioner under this section shall not form the basis for relief in any
habeas corpus proceeding or any other appeal. Nothing in this section shall
create any cause of action for damages against the Commonwealth or any of its
political subdivisions or any officers, employees or agents of the Commonwealth
or its political subdivisions.

G. In any petition filed pursuant to this chapter, the petitioner is entitled to
representation by counsel subject to the provisions of Article 3 (&#xA7;
19.2-157 et seq.) of Chapter 10.

HISTORY: 2001, cc. 873, 874; 2005, cc. 868, 881; 2013, c. 170; 2020, c. 1282;
2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 344, 345.