After-discovered evidence or newly discovered evidence refers to evidence that existed at the time of a motion or trial, but could not have been discovered with reasonable diligence prior to a court ruling on a motion or the trials completion. Upon later discovery, the losing party may assert after-discovered evidence as grounds to reconsider a motion or order a new trial. If something like this did happen to you, you should call you Bucks County Criminal Lawyers and get this taken care of quickly.
In the case, Commonwealth v. Trinidad, Trinidad ordered a new trial upon discovery of after-discovered evidence of an affidavit that said the police pressured the victim into identifying Trinidad as the shooter.
In this case, Trinidad was on trial for attempted murder. Post sentence Trinidad motion to appeal his sentence based on after-discovered evidence. The evidence consisted of a witness’s affidavit claiming that the victim told him that the police had pressured him into identifying Trinidad as the shooter. This evidence was not sufficient enough to grant a new trial, but it shows that after-discovered evidence can still help your case. For your information the site for Trinidad is Commonwealth v. Trinidad 96 A.3d 1031 (Pa.Super. 2014).
In the United States Supreme Court, the guiding case is Holland v. Jackson. The case gave wide deference to the state courts and tightened the ability of a new trial.