Amendment ID: S2185-2-R1

Redraft Amendment 2

wrongful conviction compensation

Ms. Jehlen, Mr. Eldridge, Ms. Friedman, Messrs. Lewis and Montigny, Ms. Chang-Diaz, Messrs. O'Connor, Cyr and Hinds move to amend the bill by inserting after section 130 the following 10 sections:-

“SECTION 130A. Section 1 of chapter 258D of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 10, the words “which tend to establish” and inserting in place thereof the following words:-  consistent with.

SECTION 130B. Said section 1 of said chapter 258D, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following subsection:-

(G) A claimant shall be entitled to entitled to preliminary relief under section subsection (E) of section 5 upon an initial showing that there is a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of the case.

SECTION 130C. Section 3 of said chapter 258D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the second sentence the following sentence:-  Upon motion of the claimant, the court shall advance the proceeding for expedited discovery and a speedy trial so that it may be heard and determined with as little delay as possible.

SECTION 130D.  Subsection (A) of section 5 of said chapter 258D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the fourth to sixth sentences, inclusive, and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:-  The court may include, as part of its judgment against the commonwealth, an order requiring the commonwealth to provide the claimant with services that are reasonable and necessary to address any deficiencies in the individual's physical and emotional condition and waive tuition and fees for the claimant for any educational services from a state or community college in the commonwealth including, but not limited to, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and its satellite campuses.

SECTION 130E.  Said subsection (A) of said section 5 of said chapter 258D, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 43, $500,000, and inserting in place thereof the following figure:-  $2,000,000.

SECTION 130F. Said section 5 of said chapter 258D, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following subsection:-

(E) Upon a ruling in favor of a claimant moving for preliminary relief under subsection (G) of section 1, the court shall enter an order requiring the commonwealth to provide the claimant with services that are reasonable and necessary to address any deficiencies in the individual's physical and emotional condition and waive tuition and fees for the claimant for any educational services from a state or community college in the commonwealth including, but not limited to, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and its satellite campuses.

SECTION 130G.  Said chapter 258D is hereby further amended by striking out section 6, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 6. A claimant who prevails in an action under this chapter shall be entitled to an award of the costs of the litigation and reasonable attorneys' fees in an amount to be fixed by the court.

SECTION 130H. Section 7 of said chapter 258D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following 2 subsections:-

(E) A settlement agreement under this chapter may include a stipulation or agreement to an order of expungement or sealing to be entered by the court.  Such stipulation or agreement shall be filed with the court and the court shall enter an order directing the expungement or sealing of those records of the claimant maintained by the department of criminal justice information services, the probation department and the sex offender registry that directly pertain to the claimant's erroneous felony conviction, including documents and other materials and any biological samples or other materials obtained from the claimant.  If the settlement does not include an agreement to an order of expungement or sealing, the claimant is entitled to seek expungement or sealing from the court.

(F) For the purposes of this chapter, expungement shall mean the permanent erasure and destruction of records.

SECTION 130I.  Section 8 of said chapter 258D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 2 and 6, the figure “2” and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following figure:- 3.

SECTION 130J.  Section 9 of said chapter 258D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (C).