In Re Estrada

BURKE, J., Dissenting.

In People v. Harmon, 54 Cal.2d 9 [4 Cal.Rptr. 161, 351 P.2d 329], this court held that when there is nothing to indicate a contrary intent it will be presumed that the Legislature intended a statute to operate prospectively and not retroactively. As to criminal statutes, this rule is codified in section 3 of the Penal Code, enacted in 1872, and unamended since that date. This section is but a restatement of a general rule of statutory construction. (Von Schmidt v. Huntington (1850) 1 Cal. 55, 65.) The principle of nonretroactivity is also clearly expressed, in section…