Stogner v. California

California indicted Marion Stogner (defendant) in 1998 for sex-related child abuse committed between 1955 and 1973, when the relevant statute of limitations was three years -- meaning prosecution had long since become time-barred. In 1993, California enacted a new statute of limitations permitting revival of otherwise time-barred sex-abuse prosecutions, so long as prosecution began within a year of a victim's first complaint to police. Stogner moved to dismiss on Ex Post Facto Clause grounds; after the trial court dismissed and the state court of appeal reversed, Stogner's later motion to dismiss was again denied and affirmed on appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari.