Hope Introduces Bill to Ensure Modern DNA Evidence Can Be Used to Revisit Old Convictions

LANSING, Mich., June 16, 2026 — State Rep. Kara Hope (D-Holt) has introduced House Bill 6092 to update Michigan’s post-conviction DNA testing law, expanding access to testing when DNA evidence could exonerate a convicted person or help identify the true perpetrator of a crime.

“Our justice system should be committed to getting the right answer, even after a conviction has been entered,” Hope said. “When current technology can provide new evidence that was previously unavailable, courts should have the ability to consider that evidence in the pursuit of truth and justice.”

Michigan’s current DNA law was enacted in 2001, when DNA testing technology was far less advanced. Since then, forensic scientists have developed the ability to obtain DNA profiles from much smaller and more degraded samples of evidence. Hope’s legislation would allow courts to consider these technological advances by reducing restrictions on when post-conviction DNA testing may be ordered.

The bill would also allow individuals who pleaded guilty to seek post-conviction DNA testing. Guilty pleas account for roughly 95% of felony convictions nationwide. However, 18% of exonerees nationally pleaded guilty to crimes they did not commit, and false confessions are a factor in about 25% of wrongful convictions. Innocence advocates point to coercion, fear of harsher sentences, exhaustion and barriers to understanding legal rights as common contributing factors. Most Innocence Project exonerations involve eyewitness misidentification or flawed forensic science, and disproportionately affect Black and Latinx people. Hope’s bill seeks to strengthen the justice system by opening an avenue for correcting previous inaccurate convictions using contemporary science.

“All too often, innocent people suffer in prison longer than necessary due to the procedural hurdles related to post-conviction DNA testing. The passage of these critical amendments would remove those barriers, enabling us to more quickly reveal and correct wrongful convictions. We are very glad to see these bills introduced in both the House by Representative Hope and in the Senate by Senator Irwin, and look forward to making the process of proving one’s own innocence fairer and easier,” said Olivia Vigiletti of the Michigan Innocence Clinic.

The legislation is supported by the Michigan Innocence Clinic and the Innocence Project at Cooley Law School, which have helped secure the release of wrongfully convicted Michiganders through post-conviction investigations and DNA evidence.

“Currently, Michigan is one of only a handful of states in our country that allows unnecessary legal obstacles to prevent us from exposing wrongful convictions. These critical amendments would address this issue. Last session, the bill, then known as SB 1014, passed the Senate committee with unanimous bipartisan support, with every member from both parties voting yes. We plan to demonstrate the need for these amendments to garner the same strong bipartisan support as the bills make their way through the Legislature this session,” said Jessa Webber of the Cooley Law School Innocence Project.

###