Plaintiff Mattie Lomax brought this action under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985, alleging that the Defendants violated her constitutional rights during a misdemeanor criminal investigation and trial. Whether the State violated the Due Process clause where with out a jury trial incorrect legal definition of "knowingly," in such a way that relieved the state of its requirement to prove every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt, thus violating petitioner's Fifth, Seventh and Fourteenth Amendment rights to the United States Constitution in question?

Whether the State violated the Due Process clause where without a jury trial incorrect legal definition of 'knowingly' relieved the state of its requirement to prove every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt, thus violating petitioner's Fifth, Seventh and Fourteenth Amendment rights