United States Eighth Circuit

In a petition under 28 U.S.C. section 2254 alleging that plaintiff's due process rights were violated by his state conviction for possession of child pornography, the denial of the petition is affirmed where: 1) petitioner's arguments were contrary to the clearly established rule, announced in Osborne and other cases, that a narrowly construed statute "may be applied to conduct occurring prior to the construction, provided such application affords fair warning to the defendant"; and 2) petitioner's counsel's assertion that he might have chosen a jury trial had he been aware that the statute would be construed in the way the state supreme court did was purely speculative.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/17/2010
• Published 11/17/2010

Judges

• Diana C. Murphy

Court

• United States Eighth Circuit

Counsel