Fabio
112 lines
8.5 KiB
Markdown
112 lines
8.5 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Writ of actual innocence; petition by convicted person."
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description: "Petition for writ of actual innocence. Provides that a person who was convicted of a felony or who was adjudicated delinquent by a circuit court of an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult may petition for a writ of actual innocence based on biological evidence or nonbiological evidence regardless of the type of plea he entered at trial. Under current law, such person may petition for a writ based on biological evidence if he entered a plea of not guilty, and any person, regardless of the type of plea he entered at trial, may petition for such writ if he is sentenced to death or convicted or adjudicated delinquent of murder or a felony for which the maximum punishment is imprisonment for life. The bill also (i) allows a writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence to be granted if scientific testing of previously untested evidence, regardless of whether such evidence was available or known at the time of conviction, proves that no trier of fact would have found proof of guilt of the person petitioning for the writ, provided that the testing procedure was not available at the time of conviction, and (ii) eliminates the provision that limits a petitioner to only one writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence for any conviction. The bill provides that the petitioner must prove the allegations supporting either type of writ of actual innocence by a preponderance of the evidence. Currently, the petitioner must prove such allegations by clear and convincing evidence. Finally, the bill clarifies that the Attorney General may join a petition for a writ of actual innocence filed in connection with an adjudication of delinquency. This bill is identical to SB 511."
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jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
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legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
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session: "2020"
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identifier: "HB 974"
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citation: "Virginia HB 974 (2020)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Charniele L. Herring"]
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version_count: 3
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action_count: 42
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vote_count: 12
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first_action: "2020-01-07"
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last_action: "2020-04-09"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/861ab1c9-530a-410b-b549-b6bfc0b7e1e0"
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source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB974"
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source_hash: "d77135171fbacbf08af022071d4a399a4f35964ec6a1a770f5697c5b986669a0"
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vintage: "2026-07-01"
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source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
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retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
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confidence: "reported"
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tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
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---
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# Virginia HB 974 (2020) — Writ of actual innocence; petition by convicted person.
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Petition for writ of actual innocence. Provides that a person who was convicted of a felony or who was adjudicated delinquent by a circuit court of an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult may petition for a writ of actual innocence based on biological evidence or nonbiological evidence regardless of the type of plea he entered at trial. Under current law, such person may petition for a writ based on biological evidence if he entered a plea of not guilty, and any person, regardless of the type of plea he entered at trial, may petition for such writ if he is sentenced to death or convicted or adjudicated delinquent of murder or a felony for which the maximum punishment is imprisonment for life. The bill also (i) allows a writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence to be granted if scientific testing of previously untested evidence, regardless of whether such evidence was available or known at the time of conviction, proves that no trier of fact would have found proof of guilt of the person petitioning for the writ, provided that the testing procedure was not available at the time of conviction, and (ii) eliminates the provision that limits a petitioner to only one writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence for any conviction. The bill provides that the petitioner must prove the allegations supporting either type of writ of actual innocence by a preponderance of the evidence. Currently, the petitioner must prove such allegations by clear and convincing evidence. Finally, the bill clarifies that the Attorney General may join a petition for a writ of actual innocence filed in connection with an adjudication of delinquency. This bill is identical to SB 511.
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## Version chain
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The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
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1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0993)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0993)
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2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB974ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB974ER)
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3. **Impact statement from DPB (HB974)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB974)
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## Votes
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- VOTE: Adoption (58-Y 41-N) — **57–41** (pass) · lower
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- Reported from Appropriations (16-Y 6-N) — **16–6** (pass) · lower
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- Reported from Courts of Justice (16-Y 6-N) — **16–6** (pass) · lower
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- Reported from Judiciary with amendment (7-Y 4-N) — **7–4** (pass) · upper
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- Senate insisted on amendment (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
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- Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 3-N) — **5–3** (pass) · lower
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- VOTE: Passage (63-Y 37-N) — **62–37** (pass) · lower
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- Passed Senate with amendment (27-Y 13-N) — **27–13** (pass) · upper
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- Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N) — **32–0** (pass) · upper
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- Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 2-N) — **6–2** (pass) · lower
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- VOTE: REJECTED (0-Y 97-N) — **0–96** (fail) · lower
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- Conference report agreed to by Senate (28-Y 10-N) — **28–10** (pass) · upper
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## Sponsors
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- Charniele L. Herring — primary (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20104714D `introduction`
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- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
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- **2020-02-02** Assigned Courts sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
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- **2020-02-03** Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 2-N)
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- **2020-02-05** Reported from Courts of Justice (16-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2020-02-05** Referred to Committee on Appropriations `referral-committee`
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- **2020-02-07** Assigned App. sub: Transportation & Public Safety `referral-committee`
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- **2020-02-07** Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 3-N)
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- **2020-02-07** Reported from Appropriations (16-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2020-02-09** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2020-02-10** Impact statement from DPB (HB974)
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- **2020-02-10** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
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- **2020-02-11** Read third time and passed House (63-Y 37-N) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2020-02-11** VOTE: Passage (63-Y 37-N)
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- **2020-02-12** Constitutional reading dispensed
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- **2020-02-12** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
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- **2020-02-19** Reported from Judiciary with amendment (7-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2020-02-21** Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N)
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- **2020-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2020-02-24** Reading of amendment waived
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- **2020-02-24** Committee amendment agreed to
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- **2020-02-24** Engrossed by Senate as amended
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- **2020-02-24** Passed Senate with amendment (27-Y 13-N) `passage`
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- **2020-02-26** Placed on Calendar
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- **2020-02-26** Senate amendment rejected by House (0-Y 97-N)
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- **2020-02-26** VOTE: REJECTED (0-Y 97-N)
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- **2020-02-28** Senate insisted on amendment (37-Y 0-N)
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- **2020-02-28** Senate requested conference committee
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- **2020-03-02** House acceded to request
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- **2020-03-03** Conferees appointed by Senate
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- **2020-03-04** Conferees appointed by House
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- **2020-03-07** Amended by conference committee
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- **2020-03-07** Conference report agreed to by Senate (28-Y 10-N)
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- **2020-03-07** Conference report agreed to by House (58-Y 41-N)
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- **2020-03-07** VOTE: Adoption (58-Y 41-N)
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- **2020-03-18** Enrolled
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- **2020-03-18** Signed by President
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- **2020-03-19** Signed by Speaker
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- **2020-03-20** Impact statement from DPB (HB974ER)
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- **2020-03-20** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 20, 2020
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- **2020-03-20** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
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- **2020-04-09** Approved by Governor-Chapter 993 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`
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## Source
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OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/861ab1c9-530a-410b-b549-b6bfc0b7e1e0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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