State of Arizona v. Phil Gutierrez

OPINION

PELANDER, Justice.

¶ 1 The issue presented is whether the superior court must hold an evidentiary hearing when the results of posteonviction DNA testing conducted under A.R.S. § 13-4240 are favorable to the petitioner. We hold that, although the court must hold a hearing, an evidentiary hearing is not necessarily required.

I

¶ 2 In April 1998, four members of the West Side Guadalupe gang — Reyes, Coronado, Isidro, and Cupis — drove in Reyes’s car to the east side of Guadalupe. They stopped at a party of a rival gang, East Side Guadalupe, and a rock-throwing altercation ensued. After Reyes…