Bunkley v. Florida, 538 U.S. 835, 5 (2003) (per curiam)

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Cite as: 538 U. S. 835 (2003)

Per Curiam

Justice Pariente, joined by Chief Justice Anstead, dissented. She stated that the Florida Supreme Court's decision in L. B. "should be applied to grant Bunkley collateral relief." 833 So. 2d, at 746. She criticized the majority opinion for relying solely on a retroactivity question. In her view, "application of the due process principles of Fiore renders a retroactivity analysis . . . unnecessary." Id., at 747. She noted that even if L. B. was merely an evolutionary refinement of the law, "the majority offers no precedent laying out the stages of this evolution." 833 So. 2d, at 747. Because she thought the L. B. decision "correctly stated the law at the time Bunkley's conviction became final," she would have vacated Bunkley's conviction. 833 So. 2d, at 747.

II

Fiore v. White involved a Pennsylvania criminal statute that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court interpreted for the first time after the defendant Fiore's conviction became final. See 531 U. S., at 226. Under the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's interpretation of the criminal statute, Fiore could not have been guilty of the crime for which he was convicted. See id., at 227-228. We originally granted certiorari in Fiore to consider "when, or whether, the Federal Due Process Clause requires a State to apply a new interpretation of a state criminal statute retroactively to cases on collateral review." Id., at 226. "Because we were uncertain whether the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision . . . represented a change in the law," we certified a question to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Id., at 228. This question asked whether the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's interpretation of the statute " 'state[d] the correct interpretation of the law of Pennsylvania at the date Fiore's conviction became final.' " Ibid.

ley was convicted, he was convicted of a crime—armed burglary—for which he may not be guilty. Therefore, Michigan v. Long, 463 U. S. 1032 (1983), has no applicability here.

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