Peter Luurtsema v. Commissioner of Correction

Summary

The court held that a later judicial interpretation narrowing the scope of a substantive criminal statute presumptively applies retroactively in collateral habeas proceedings. It further held that this rule applies to the petitioner's kidnapping conviction because the record did not show that the state would have charged him differently under the narrower interpretation, while preserving the possibility of a properly conducted retrial. The court declined to decide the federal due process question.