Rule 32-Post-Conviction Relief (PCR)

 A defendant may file a notice requesting post-conviction relief under this rule if the defendant was convicted and sentenced for a criminal offense after a trial or a contested probation violation hearing, or in any case in which the defendant was sentenced to death.

There is no fee for filing a notice of post-conviction relief.

Grounds for relief are:

(a) the defendant's conviction was obtained, or the sentence was imposed, in violation of the United States or Arizona Constitutions;

(b) the court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to render a judgment or to impose a sentence on the defendant;

(c) the sentence as imposed is not authorized by law;

(d) the defendant continues to be or will continue to be in custody after his or her sentence expired;

(e) newly discovered material facts probably exist, and those facts probably would have changed the judgment or sentence.

Newly discovered material facts exist if:

(1) the facts were discovered after the trial or sentencing;

(2) the defendant exercised due diligence in discovering these facts; and

(3) the newly discovered facts are material and not merely cumulative or used solely for impeachment, unless the impeachment evidence substantially undermines testimony that was of such critical significance that the impeachment evidence probably would have changed the judgment or sentence.

(f) the failure to timely file a notice of appeal was not the defendant's fault;

(g) there has been a significant change in the law that, if applicable to the defendant's case, would probably overturn the defendant's judgment or sentence; or

(h) the defendant demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that the facts underlying the claim would be sufficient to establish that no reasonable fact-finder would find the defendant guilty of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt, or that no reasonable fact-finder would find the defendant eligible for the death penalty in an aggravation phase held pursuant to A.R.S. § 13-752