A person who has been convicted of, or sentenced for, a crime may institute a proceeding for post-conviction relief if the person claims

(1) that the conviction or the sentence was in violation of the Constitution of the United States or the constitution or laws of this state;

Terms Used In Alaska Statutes 12.72.010

  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
  • person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association, organization, business trust, or society, as well as a natural person. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
  • Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • state: means the State of Alaska unless applied to the different parts of the United States and in the latter case it includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
(2) that the court was without jurisdiction to impose sentence;
(3) that a prior conviction has been set aside and the prior conviction was used as a statutorily required enhancement of the sentence imposed;
(4) that there exists evidence of material facts, not previously presented and heard by the court, that requires vacation of the conviction or sentence in the interest of justice; if the person seeks post-conviction DNA testing to support a claim under this paragraph, the person’s exclusive method for obtaining that testing is an application under Alaska Stat. Chapter 12.73;
(5) that the person’s sentence has expired, or the person’s probation, parole, or conditional release has been unlawfully revoked, or the person is otherwise unlawfully held in custody or other restraint;
(6) that the conviction or sentence is otherwise subject to collateral attack upon any ground or alleged error previously available under the common law, statutory law, or other writ, motion, petition, proceeding, or remedy;
(7) that

(A) there has been a significant change in law, whether substantive or procedural, applied in the process leading to the person’s conviction or sentence;
(B) the change in the law was not reasonably foreseeable by a judge or a competent attorney;
(C) it is appropriate to retroactively apply the change in law because the change requires observance of procedures without which the likelihood of an accurate conviction is seriously diminished; and
(D) the failure to retroactively apply the change in law would result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice, which is established by demonstrating that, had the changed law been in effect at the time of the applicant’s trial, a reasonable trier of fact would have a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the applicant;
(8) that, after the imposition of sentence, the applicant seeks to withdraw a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in order to correct manifest injustice under the Alaska Rules of Criminal Procedure; or
(9) that the applicant was not afforded effective assistance of counsel at trial or on direct appeal.
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