| | | Sec. 4. 15 MRSA §2138, sub-§8, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 469, §1, | | is amended to read: |
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| | | B. If the results of the DNA analysis show that the person | | is not the source of the evidence and the person does not | | have counsel, the court shall appoint counsel if the court | | finds that the person is indigent. The court shall then | hold a hearing at which the person must establish by clear | and convincing evidence that: |
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| | (1) Only the perpetrator of the crime or crimes for | which the person was convicted could be the source of | the evidence; |
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| | (2) The evidence was collected, handled and preserved | by procedures that allow the court to find that the | evidence is not contaminated or is not so degraded that | the DNA profile of the analyzed sample of the evidence | can not be determined to be identical to the DNA sample | initially collected during the investigation; and |
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| | (3) The person's purported exclusion as the source of | the evidence, balanced against the other evidence in | the case, is sufficient to justify that the court grant | a new trial. |
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| | | Sec. 5. 15 MRSA §2138, sub-§10, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 469, §1, is | | repealed and the following enacted in its place: |
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| | | 10.__Standard for granting new trial; court's findings; new | | trial granted or denied.__If the results of the DNA testing under | | this section show that the person is not the source of the | | evidence, the person authorized in section 2137 must show by | | clear and convincing evidence that: |
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| | | A.__Only the perpetrator of the crime or crimes for which | | the person was convicted could be the source of the | | evidence, and that the DNA test results, when considered | | with all the other evidence in the case, old and new, | | admitted in the hearing conducted under this section on | | behalf of the person show that the person is actually | | innocent.__If the court finds that the person authorized in | | section 2137 has met the evidentiary burden of this | | paragraph, the court shall grant a new trial; |
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| | | B.__Only the perpetrator of the crime or crimes for which the | | person was convicted could be the source of the evidence, and | | that the DNA test results, when considered with all the other | | evidence in the case, old and new, admitted in the hearing | | conducted under this section on |
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