He has been back on the street and committed a new felony, and now he wants to reopen the long-closed book on the prior crime, placing a further burden on a system already groaning under a surfeit of litigable issues. Such a step would require an exceptionally compelling justification. B. Striking Priors and Unjust Results. On appeal or habeas, the grant of relief typically does not, by itself, result in the defendant's release. The usual result is a retrial.
Striking priors is different.
The remedy typically sought is to resentence the defendant without considering the prior offense. From a finding of procedural irregularity alone, the defendant completely escapes the sentence-enhancing effect of his prior crime. He would be sentenced as a first offender regardless of how clear the evidence of guilt of the prior may be. This is a truly drastic remedy, and it can have disastrous consequences. Striking the prior means that a serial rapist who should have been locked up for life instead gets released in 5 years to brutalize more women.