Bunkley v. Florida

Summary

The Court vacated and remanded the Florida Supreme Court's judgment, holding that it erred in failing to determine whether the common pocketknife exception encompassed Bunkley's knife at the time his conviction became final. The decision rested on Fiore v. White principles that due process forbids conviction for conduct not violating criminal elements under controlling statutory interpretation. Chief Justice Rehnquist, dissenting, argued the majority expanded Fiore to unnecessarily interfere with state finality interests.