Opinion ID: 215844
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 20

Heading: OCCA's rejection of the claim

Text: On direct appeal to the OCCA from his retrial, Selsor argued, in pertinent part, that the state trial court's retroactive application of the 1976 first degree murder statute and its corresponding penalty provisions violated the prohibition against ex post facto laws. The OCCA rejected that argument, stating as follows: In Proposition I, Selsor argues that the ex post facto provisions of the federal and state constitutions were violated because he was tried in 1998 pursuant to the First Degree Murder statute (21 O.S.1991, § 701.7(A)) in effect then rather than the statute in effect when he allegedly committed the crime (21 O.S. Supp.1973, § 701). In Proposition V, he asserts that his jury was mis-instructed on the applicable elements of First Degree Murder and that the Information did not adequately notify him of the charges against which he had to defend. We address these propositions together and conclude that they both lack merit. This Court focuses on the following factors when determining whether there has been an ex post facto violation: i, the elements of the offense; ii, the conditions and quantum of punishment; and iii, the quantity and degree of proof necessary to establish guilt. Although the elements of First Degree Murder and the burden of proof contained in the 1973 statute (under which Selsor was charged) differ from those contained in the current statute, Selsor's jury was instructed on all the elements of First Degree Murder under the 1973 statute. While all elements of First Degree Murder under the 1973 statute were not contained within Instruction 9, they were included within the instructions as a whole. Instruction 18 correctly informs the jury on the elements of Robbery with Firearms. The essential elements of that offense are the same under the statute applicable at the time of Selsor's crime (21 O.S.1971, § 801) and the current statute (21 O.S. 1991, § 801). Thus, considering Instructions 9 and 18 together indicates that Selsor's jury was instructed upon and found him guilty of all the elements of First Degree Murder under the applicable 1973 statute. As such, the defendant was not convicted under a lesser burden of proof, and under these circumstances, we do not find a violation of the ex post facto provisions of the State and Federal constitutions. Selsor II, 2 P.3d at 350 (internal paragraph numbers and footnotes omitted).