Evans v. Ray

EBEL, Circuit Judge.

Robert Simpson Evans, Jr. (“Petitioner”) was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for first degree child abuse murder. On direct appeal to the state court, Petitioner argued that the retroactive application of Fairchild v. State, 998 P.2d 611 (Okla.Crim.App.1999), which he contends changed the mens rea element of OMahoma’s child abuse murder statute from specific to general intent, violates ex post facto principles as incorporated in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The state court disagreed and affirmed his conviction. Petitioner now makes the…