Next Generation Bar Exam Quiz
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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
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State law in 2020 recognized imperfect self-defense as a partial defense that reduces intentional murder to voluntary manslaughter. In 2023, the legislature enacted a statute providing: "The defense of imperfect self-defense is abolished. This section applies to all pending and future prosecutions of offenses committed before the effective date." In 2024, Tasha is prosecuted for murder for a killing in 2021. She presents evidence that she honestly but unreasonably believed she needed to use deadly force; if credited, the 2021 offense would have been voluntary manslaughter under the law in effect at the time. Under the 2023 statute, that same evidence is irrelevant to the murder charge. In State v. Cabeza, the court held: "The Ex Post Facto Clause is violated by the retroactive elimination of either a complete defense or a partial defense that reduces the grade of the offense, because the defendant is subjected to a greater punishment than was attached to her conduct when it occurred."
Tasha moves to dismiss the murder charge. How should the court rule?
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