State of Minnesota v. Melissa Madelyne Zielinski

Syllabus

1. A district court may summarily deny a preliminary application for relief under the Act of May 19, 2023, ch. 52, art. 4, § 24, 2023 Minn. Laws 810, 864–68 (the Act) only for the reasons enumerated in subdivision 5(e)–(f) of the Act. 2. Applicants convicted of first-degree felony murder meet the \reasonable probability\ standard in the Act if they allege facts in their preliminary application that would cause a rational person to believe that at an evidentiary hearing, they might be able to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that they neither caused nor intentionally aided, advised, hired, counseled, or conspired with or otherwise procured another with the intent to cause the death of a human being. 3. In considering a request for relief under the Act, a district court cannot make credibility determinations without first holding an evidentiary hearing as provided for by subdivision 6 of the Act. Reversed and remanded.