Fort v. State
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted in 1990 of first-degree premeditated murder. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction on direct appeal. Defendant subsequently filed a petition for postconviction relief requesting an evidentiary hearing to consider evidence he asserted was new and exculpatory. Specifically, Defendant sought a hearing to consider (1) newly discovered eyewitness testimony, which he claimed buttressed his alternative-perpetrator theory, and (2) whether he was entitled to have DNA testing of a sample from a smear found at the crime scene. The postconviction court denied Defendant's petition and motion without an evidentiary hearing, concluding that Defendant did not meet the standard for receiving an evidentiary hearing. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Defendant failed to meet the threshold required for relief, and thus, the postconviction court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Defendant's motion without an evidentiary hearing.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.