Ortega v. State
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Petitioner was convicted of aiding and abetting first-degree premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. Thereafter, Petitioner filed a petition for postconviction relief, alleging that Eric Bermea, who testified as an eyewitness at the trial, had provided false testimony and had subsequently recanted that testimony. The postconviction court denied the petition without an evidentiary hearing. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that because the absence of Bermea’s testimony would not have changed the jury’s verdict to an acquittal or to a conviction of a lesser charge, the postconviction court did not abuse its discretion in denying Petitioner’s petition without an evidentiary hearing.
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