Opinion ID: 2010081
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Retroactive Application of Burlison

Text: Davlin's first assignment of error is that the district court erred in not instructing the jury that malice was an element of second degree murder, thus retroactively applying this court's decision in State v. Burlison, 255 Neb. 190, 583 N.W.2d 31 (1998). We recently addressed this issue in State v. Redmond, 262 Neb. 411, 631 N.W.2d 501 (2001), cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 122 S.Ct. 573, 151 L.Ed.2d 445. We stated: Under Rogers [ v. Tennessee, 532 U.S. 451, 121 S.Ct. 1693, 149 L.Ed.2d 697 (2001)], the U.S. Constitution does not require that retroactive judicial decisions be analyzed with reference to the Ex Post Facto Clause. Instead, a judicial decision interpreting a statute may be applied retroactively unless the decision denies due process by being both unexpected and indefensible by reference to the law which had been expressed prior to the conduct in issue. In this case, the change of law in State v. Burlison, 255 Neb. 190, 583 N.W.2d 31 (1998), cannot be said to be indefensible. Indefensible is defined as incapable of being maintained as right or valid or incapable of being justified or excused. ... Thus, in a case such as Bouie [ v. City of Columbia, 378 U.S. 347, 84 S.Ct. 1697, 12 L.Ed.2d 894 (1964),] where a court interprets a statute in a surprising manner that has little in the way of legal support, the interpretation could not be applied retroactively. Our decision in Burlison was not such a case. The basis of the Burlison decision was the plain language of [Neb.Rev.Stat.] § 28-304 [(Reissue 1995)]. We recognized in Burlison that it was improper to read the element of malice into that statute. In Nebraska, all crimes are statutory, and no act is criminal unless the Legislature has in express terms declared it to be so.... It is not within the province of the courts to read a meaning into a statute that is not there, nor read anything direct and plain out of a statute.... Thus, as we stated in Burlison, our prior decisions interpreting § 28-304 to include malice as a necessary element of the crime of second degree murder were clearly erroneous. Our decision in Burlison was in no manner indefensible. Furthermore, our decision in Burlison was not entirely unexpected. Although Burlison overruled a line of cases, the prior cases were not without obvious disagreement. Further, this court's interpretation of § 28-304 before Burlison was in direct contradiction to the plain meaning of the statute. But regardless of whether the Burlison decision was or was not unexpected, it certainly was not indefensible. Thus, under the test set out in Rogers v. Tennessee, [532] U.S. [451], 121 S.Ct. 1693, 149 L.Ed.2d 697 (2001), a retroactive application of Burlison does not violate due process. (Emphasis in original.) (Citations omitted.) Redmond, 262 Neb. at 420-21, 631 N.W.2d at 508. Davlin argues that our decision in Redmond, supra, was in error because we failed to determine that our decision in Burlison, supra, was both unexpected and indefensible. In the first place, our decision in Redmond clearly states that our decision in Burlison was not unexpected, because the line of cases that Burlison overruled was not without obvious disagreement and was in direct contradiction to the plain language of Neb.Rev.Stat. § 28-304 (Reissue 1995). Second, Davlin misreads Rogers v. Tennessee, 532 U.S. 451, 121 S.Ct. 1693, 149 L.Ed.2d 697 (2001). Rogers establishes that a judicial decision interpreting a statute may not be given retroactive effect, only where it is `unexpected and indefensible.'  (Emphasis supplied.) Rogers, 532 U.S. at 462, 121 S.Ct. 1693. In other words, Rogers sets forth a two-pronged test for whether a retroactive application of a judicial decision violates due process, and both prongs must be satisfied for a constitutional violation to be proved. If one prong of the test is unsatisfied, then the inquiry can end. Davlin also argues that his case is distinguishable from State v. Redmond, 262 Neb. 411, 631 N.W.2d 501 (2001), cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 122 S.Ct. 573, 151 L.Ed.2d 445, because the crime alleged in the instant case took place prior to the line of dissenting opinions that foreshadowed State v. Burlison, 255 Neb. 190, 583 N.W.2d 31 (1998). Davlin argues that because Ligenza's alleged murder took place before the publication of those dissenting opinions, the decision in Burlison was still unexpected at the time the crime was alleged to have been committed. Davlin's argument fails for two reasons. First, we stated in Redmond, supra, that the decision in Burlison, supra, was not unexpected both because of the disagreement among the members of this court and because the decisions of this court were contradicted by the plain language of § 28-304. The statutory language upon which Burlison was based was obviously in effect at the time that the crime in the instant case was alleged to have been committed. Moreover, Davlin's argument is directed solely at whether the Burlison decision was unexpected. As noted previously, a judicial decision interpreting a statute violates due process when applied retroactively only where the decision is both unexpected and indefensible. Davlin's argument does not distinguish this case from our conclusion in Redmond, supra, that the decision in Burlison, supra, was not indefensible. Consequently, Davlin's attempt to distinguish this case from Redmond, supra, is without merit. For the foregoing reasons, the district court did not err in failing to instruct the jury that malice was an essential element of the offense of second degree murder.