12-771. Factual innocence; judicial determination; procedure; definition

368 words·~2 min read·/az/title-12/12-771

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

A. A person, or a prosecuting agency on behalf of the person, may petition the superior court for a judicial determination of the person's factual innocence if as a result of the person’s personal identifying information being taken, the person's name was either:

1. Used by another person who was arrested, cited or charged with a criminal offense.

2. Entered as of record in a judgment of guilt in a criminal case.

B. The petition shall be filed in the superior court in the county in which the arrest was made, the citation was issued or the charge was filed.

C. If the charge was filed in a justice of the peace court or municipal court the justice of the peace or presiding officer of a municipal court shall transmit all papers in the case, a copy of all proceedings as shown by the docket and all orders entered in the action to the clerk of the superior court of the county.

D. If no charge was filed the petition shall be served on the arresting or citing law enforcement agency.

E. If a charge was filed:

1. The petition, if filed by the person, shall be served on the prosecuting agency and, if applicable, a copy of the petition shall be provided to the defense attorney.

2. The prosecuting agency, on the filing of the petition, shall provide notice to all victims pursuant to section 13-4440.

F. The court may conduct a hearing to determine the person's factual innocence.

G. If the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person's name was used as set forth in subsection A of this section the court shall find the person factually innocent of the offense.

H. On a finding of factual innocence the court shall notify the following, if applicable:

1. The person.

2. The prosecuting agency.

3. The law enforcement agency.

4. The defense attorney.

I. The court shall consider a person or party's request to expedite the judicial determination.

J. Nothing in this section shall delay a proceeding or in any other manner affect a criminal case.

K. For the purposes of this section, "personal identifying information" has the same meaning prescribed in section 13-2001.