[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3320 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3320

 To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide an exception to the 
  requirement of motion to the court of appeals before filing certain 
    second or subsequent petitions for habeas corpus, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 23, 2009

    Mr. Moore of Kansas (for himself and Mr. Payne) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide an exception to the 
  requirement of motion to the court of appeals before filing certain 
    second or subsequent petitions for habeas corpus, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Justice for the Wrongfully Accused 
Act''.

SEC. 2. EXCEPTION TO REQUIREMENT OF MOTION TO COURT OF APPEALS BEFORE 
              FILING CERTAIN SECOND OR SUBSEQUENT PETITIONS FOR HABEAS 
              CORPUS.

    Section 2244(b)(3) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``Before'' and 
        inserting ``Except as otherwise provided by law, before''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(F) The requirement for a motion under 
                subparagraph (A) does not apply if the second or 
                subsequent application rests solely on a claim of 
                actual innocence arising from--
                            ``(i) newly discovered evidence from 
                        forensic testing;
                            ``(ii) exculpatory evidence withheld from 
                        the defense at trial; or
                            ``(iii) newly discovered accounts by 
                        credible witnesses who recant prior testimony 
                        or establish improper action of State or 
                        Federal agents.''.

SEC. 3. EXHAUSTION OF REMEDIES.

    Section 2254(b) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ``, unless exempted 
        under paragraph (4),'' after ``has''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) If the application is based on a claim that the 
        police or prosecution withheld exculpatory, impeachment, or 
        other evidence favorable to the defendant, the exhaustion 
        requirement of paragraph (1)(A) does not apply.''.

SEC. 4. EVIDENTIARY HEARING.

    The final paragraph of section 2243 of title 28, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: ``If the applicant 
makes a credible proffer of evidence supporting a claim of actual 
innocence based on one of the circumstances described in section 
2244(b)(3)(F), the court shall hold an evidentiary hearing to determine 
the facts relating to the claim. If the proffer is based in whole or in 
part on a witness who testified at the petitioner's trial, the witness' 
evidentiary hearing testimony is only admissible if it is a recantation 
or establishes improper action of State agents. If the court determines 
the claim is without merit, the petitioner is barred from raising that 
claim in a successor petition.''.
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