Plaintiff Sufficiently Raised Issue of “Actual Innocence” in Motion to Vacate His Conviction to Warrant Hearing—Affidavits from Alibi Witnesses Identified Before Trial

The Second Department determined defendant had presented sufficient evidence of “actual innocence” to support his motion to vacate his conviction to warrant a hearing:

…[O]n remittal, the Supreme Court should hold a hearing to address the defendant’s claim that the judgment of conviction should be vacated because the defendant is “actually innocent” of the crimes of which he was convicted (see CPL 440.10[1][h]; People v Hamilton, _____ AD3d _____, 2014 NY Slip Op 00238 [2d Dept 2014]). As we recognized in Hamilton, a prima facie showing of actual innocence is made out when there is ” “a sufficient showing of possible merit to warrant a fuller exploration'”” by the court… . Here, the defendant made the requisite prima facie showing. Specifically, in support of his claim of actual innocence, he submitted affidavits from alibi witnesses who, although they had been identified before trial in a notice of alibi (see CPL 250.20[1]), had not testified at trial. People v Jones, 2014 NY Slip Op 02079, 2nd Dept 3-26-14