Arizona

Criminal Procedure

Criminal Procedure

Rule 32.3 – Nature of a Post-Conviction Proceeding and Relation to Other Remedies

(a)Generally. A post-conviction proceeding is part of the original criminal action and is not a separate action. It displaces and incorporates all trial court post-trial remedies except those obtainable by Rule 24 motions and habeas corpus.
(b)Other Applications or Requests for Relief. If a court receives any type of application or request for relief-however titled-that challenges the validity of the defendant’s conviction or sentence following a trial, it must treat the application as a petition for post-conviction relief. If that court is not the court that convicted or sentenced the defendant, it must transfer the application or request for relief to the court where the defendant was convicted or sentenced.
(c)Defendant Sentenced to Death. A defendant sentenced to death in a capital case must proceed under Rule 32 rather than Rule 33 for all post-conviction issues, even if the defendant pled guilty to first-degree murder or other crimes.

Ariz. R. Crim. P. 32.3

Added by August 31, 2017, effective January 1, 2018; amended August 29, 2019, effective January 1, 2020.

This rule provides that all Rule 32 proceedings are to be treated as criminal actions. The characterization of the proceeding as criminal assures compensation for appointed counsel, and the applicability of criminal standards for admissibility of evidence at an evidentiary hearing, except as otherwise provided.

Rule 32 does not restrict the scope of the writ of habeas corpus under Ariz. Const. art. 2, § 14. See A.R.S. §§ 13-4121 et seq., which provides a remedy for individuals who are unlawfully committed, detained, confined, or restrained. But if a convicted defendant files a petition for a writ of habeas corpus (or an application with a different title) that seeks relief available under Rule 32, the petition or application will be treated as a petition for post-conviction relief.

This rule does not limit remedies that are available under Rule 24.