Don’t sit on newly discovered evidence.

Occasionally we’ll get an email from someone saying that long after their conviction, evidence emerged that would have acquitted them. Florida does have an avenue to bring newly discovered evidence before a court, but a lesson worth remembering from a recent Florida appellate decision reminds us that you need to act on it!

In Jennis v. State, the Sixth District Court of Appeal addressed a claim based on newly discovered evidence and the requirements for obtaining post-conviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Among other things, the rule requires that the evidence could not have been discovered earlier through the exercise of due diligence.

That’s an important reminder for FAC members. Maybe you recently obtained an old police report. Maybe you found a government record that wasn’t disclosed. Maybe a witness came forward. Maybe you discovered an email, recording, document, DNA result, or other evidence that could affect your case. Don’t sit on it! Get it to your attorney. And find out immediately what legal procedure applies and what deadlines may govern.

The law has specific requirements. (1) The newly discovered evidence could not have been found through ordinary due diligence at the time of your trial/plea, and (2) the qualifying new evidence must be capable of probably producing an acquittal on retrial.