Jones v. State

Syllabus

The petitioner appealed following the denial of his petition for certification to appeal from the trial court's judgment dismissing his petition for a new trial on the basis of newly discovered DNA evidence. The petitioner claimed, inter alia, that the court abused its discretion in denying his posttrial motion for permission to amend his petition to conform to the evidence presented at the trial on the petition. Held: The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the petition for cer- tification to appeal, as the petitioner failed to demonstrate that his claims involved issues that were debatable among jurists of reason, that a court could resolve the issues in a different manner or that the questions raised were adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the petitioner's motion for permission to amend his petition for a new trial, as there was nothing in the record to support the petitioner's argument that granting him permis- sion to amend the petition would not cause a substantial delay of the trial on the petition or that he suffered an injustice by such denial. Argued October 21, 2025—officially released February 17, 2026