COURT DENIES CHALLENGE BASED ON EX POST FACTO CHALLENGE

The Supreme Court has affirmed a conviction over challenge brought under the Ex Post Facto clause. In United States v. Marcus, the Court considered whether a Defendant could challenge his forced sexual and trafficking conviction on the grounds that the statute was enacted in 2000 (the prosecution had presented, to the jury, that the offenses occurred between 1999 and 2001); the jury, therefore, was presented evidence of conduct that occurred before the statutes were enacted.

Marcus' conviction was upheld on the grounds that his trial counsel failed to raise this issue at trial. Accordingly, Marcus was forced to allege that such was "plain error." Marcus was unable to show the requisite prejudice, under a plain error analysis, to gain a new trial.