Post-conviction relief, or PCR, is a trial-court proceeding in Oregon state court. It is used to attack a conviction or sentence and it has some similarity to an appeal. The most common issues in post-conviction relief are the competency of the defendant’s counsel and whether the defendant understood the terms of a plea bargain, but any illegality in the proceedings leading to the conviction can be raised if it could not have been raised in a direct appeal.
In order to prevail in post-conviction court, a petitioner must show that 1) the trial was tainted by a violation of a constitutional right, such as the right to counsel or the right to due process, 2) the error could not have been raised on appeal, and 3) the error had a tendency to affect the outcome of the process. Because post-conviction relief is a proceeding in the trial court, it can be appealed just like any other trial. In the case of a federal conviction, the process is in federal court, and it is called a petition for a writ of habeas corpus rather than a petition for post-conviction relief, but the process is similar.
Appeals and post-conviction relief overlap very little, but, between them, they provide a mechanism to address almost any injustice or illegality in a criminal conviction. If they are not successful, federal habeas corpus is usually the last step.
Post-conviction relief must be commenced within two years of the end of the appeal, or, if there was no appeal, the trial. But, if you might seek federal habeas corpus, then you should file your state post-conviction petition within one year, not two. These time limitations are complex, and if you are considering seeking post-conviction relief, don’t wait - you should consult with an attorney right away.
