No. 18-9366

Michael T. Rivera v. Florida

Lower Court: Florida
Docketed: 2019-05-22
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
IFP
Tags: collateral-review criminal-statute due-process eighth-amendment judicial-interpretation procedural-rule retroactivity substantive-law
Latest Conference: 2019-10-01
Question Presented (from Petition)

1. Whether the Federal Due Process Clause requires a state to apply a new interpretation of a state criminal statute retroactively to cases on collateral review, and if so, when?

2. When a judicial decision provides a new interpretation of a controlling criminal statute to require additional facts or elements to be proven by the State beyond a reasonable doubt before a judge may consider imposing a death sentence, is it a ruling setting forth substantive law or one adopting a rule of procedure?

3. Whether Petitioner was denied his rights under the Due Process Clause or the Eighth Amendment when: (1) the Florida Supreme Court in his case refused to apply its recent construction of § 921.141, F.S., that before death was an available sentence, the State had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, not just one aggravating circumstance, but also that the aggravating circumstances found were sufficient and that they outweighed the mitigating circumstances; and (2) the Florida Supreme Court applied the recent construction of § 921.141 in homicide prosecutions where the homicides at issue were committed as many as four years before the one in Petitioner's case.

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the Federal Due Process Clause requires a state to apply a new interpretation of a state criminal statute retroactively to cases on collateral review

Docket Entries

2019-10-07
Petition DENIED.
2019-09-24
Reply of petitioner Michael Rivera filed. (Distributed)
2019-07-05
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/1/2019.
2019-06-18
Brief of respondent Florida in opposition filed.
2019-05-20
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due June 21, 2019)
2019-03-14
Application (18A930) granted by Justice Thomas extending the time to file until May 19, 2019.
2019-03-12
Application (18A930) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from March 20, 2019 to May 19, 2019, submitted to Justice Thomas.

Attorneys

Florida
Carolyn M. SnurkowskiOffice of the Attorney General, Respondent
Michael Rivera
Martin J. McClainOffice of Capital Collateral Regional Counsel - South, Petitioner