Bridges v. State

Citations

• 2022 ND 147

Syllabus

A district court may summarily dispose of an application for postconviction relief if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. On an application for postconviction relief from a guilty plea claiming an exception to the statute of limitations under N.D.C.C. § 29-32.1-01(3) based on newly discovered evidence, the district court should consider whether the evidence was discovered after the guilty plea, whether the failure to learn about the evidence before the plea was not the result of the defendant's lack of diligence, and whether the newly discovered evidence is material to what would have been the issues at trial. The court should also determine whether, if proved and reviewed in light of the evidence as a whole, the newly discovered evidence would establish that the petitioner did not engage in the criminal conduct for which the petitioner was convicted. An application for postconviction relief asserting a new interpretation of law must establish the interpretation is retroactively applicable and must be filed within two years of the date the decision announcing the new interpretation is published.