Stogner v. ssCalifornia
In 1998, Stogner was charged with two counts of child molestation that allegedly occurred 25 to 43 years earlier. The complaint acknowledged on its face that the limitations period for the offenses had expired, but alleged that the charges could be prosecuted pursuant to a 1994 law that extended the limitations period to one year following a report to a law enforcement agency that a person was the victim of sexual misconduct while under the age of 18. The court of appeals upheld the statute, finding no infringement of constitutional rights.
Questions Presented:
1. Did the California legislature’s abolition of the statute of limitations requirement, which historically comprised an element of the crimes charged, so as to charge defendant
retroactively, violate the Ex Post Facto clause?
2. Did California’s abolition of the statute of limitations requirement arbitrarily retract a liberty interest the state had conferred upon the defendant?
