People v. Rivers

I dissent.

When appellate courts fix different dates for the operative effect of their decisions in criminal cases involving the same constitutional rights, confusion is bound to result. The instant case adds to that confusion by creating another unnecessary exception to an established rule.

Until relatively recently it was an established doctrine that *1006decisions recognizing the existence of constitutional rights were retroactive in the full sense of that word. (Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 [9 L.Ed.Ed 799, 83 S.Ct. 792, 93 A.L.R.2d 733]; Hamilton v. Alabama, 368 U.S. 52 [7 L.Ed.2d 114, 82…