Post-Conviction Relief

When filing for a direct appeal of your case does not succeed or is not an option, such as if you accepted a plea bargain, you may still seek out post-conviction relief (PCR), or use Rule 32 as it sometimes called in Arizona. Although appeals and post-conviction relief options are quite similar in purpose, they can be viewed as entirely different in execution.

Key elements of a post-conviction relief include:

# 1 — Time limit: You only have 30 to 90 days to use Rule 32, depending on when you were sentenced or when your last appeal attempt failed.

#2 — Sentence reduction: Whereas an appeal can challenge essentially the entire trial, PCRs are aimed primarily at the sentencing issued and seek to have it reduced without necessarily arguing that you were not guilty of the crimes in question.

#3 — Ineffective counsel: While there are a handful of reasons you can file a PCR, the number one reason is to argue that your counsel was ineffective or unable to fairly represent you before the court.

If you feel that your original attorney, or perhaps a public defender, did not do enough to challenge the prosecution to the point where it could be seen as professional negligence, it is time you rely on a trusted Scottsdale criminal defense lawyer from the Law Offices of Stephen L. Duncan, P.L.C. With more than 20 years as both a prosecutor and a defender, Attorney Duncan can bring unparalleled legal insight and know-how to your post-conviction relief effort.

Arizona State does not have an expungement or record sealing system like most other states – your criminal history remains unchanged until you reach the age of 99. It does offer “set aside” processes for some criminal convictions, which act very much how they sound. If your conviction is set aside, the mark on your record will have a note – usually quite literally to the side of the conviction description – that states that you satisfied all conditions of your sentencing, a court has vacated the conviction, and all charges were ultimately dismissed.

Misdemeanors or felonies can only be set aside if they meet the following criteria:

• Nonviolent with no deadly weapons, injuries, or deaths involved
• Did not require mandatory sex offender registration
• Did not involve deviant sexual behavior or motivation
• Did not involve a victim of 15 years of age or younger

Our Scottsdale criminal defense attorney is always looking for ways to improve the lives of his clients. In some instances, this means coming to their aid after they have already been convicted of a crime. Allow our team to review your case and determine if post-conviction relief procedures can work for you. All you need to do is contact us today and schedule your free case evaluation, and we can handle the rest.