§ 7-12-402 — Definitions

Wyoming § 7-12-402

• Jurisdiction: Wyoming
• Title 07: Criminal Procedure
• Ch. 12: APPEAL, EXCEPTIONS AND NEW TRIAL
• Art. 4: POSTCONVICTION DETERMINATION OF FACTUAL INNOCENCE

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(a) As used in this act:
(i) "Bona fide issue of factual innocence" means that
the newly discovered evidence presented by the petitioner, if
credible, would clearly establish the petitioner's factual
innocence;
(ii) "Factual innocence" or "factually innocent"
means a person:
(A) Did not engage in the conduct for which he
was convicted;
(B) Did not engage in conduct constituting a
lesser included or inchoate offense of the crime for which he
was convicted; and
(C) Did not commit any other crime arising out
of or reasonably connected to the facts supporting the
indictment or information upon which he was convicted.
(iii) "Forensic science" is the application of
scientific or technical practices to the recognition,
collection, analysis and interpretation of evidence for criminal
and civil law or regulatory issues;
(iv) "Newly discovered evidence" means evidence that
was not available to the petitioner at trial or during the
resolution by the trial court of any motion to withdraw a guilty
plea or motion for new trial and which is relevant to the
determination of the issue of factual innocence, including:
(A) Evidence that was discovered prior to or in
the course of any appeal or post-conviction proceedings that
served in whole or in part as the basis to vacate or reverse the
petitioner's conviction;
(B) Evidence that supports the claims within a
petition for post-conviction relief under W.S. 7-14-101 through
7-14-108 that is pending at the time of the court's
determination of factual innocence under this act; or
(C) Relevant forensic scientific evidence that
was not available at the time of trial or during the resolution
by the trial court of any motion to withdraw a guilty plea or
motion for new trial, or that undermines forensic evidence
presented at trial. Forensic scientific evidence is to be
considered as "undermined" if new research or information exists
that repudiates:
(I) The foundational validity of the
challenged evidence or testimony. "Foundational validity" means
the reliability of the method to be repeatable, reproducible and
accurate in a scientific setting; or
(II) The applied validity of the method or
technique. "Applied validity" means the reliability of the
method or technique in practice.
(v) "This act" means W.S. 7-12-401 through 7-12-407.