—absent a saving clause, a criminal defendant is entitled to the benefit of a change in the law during the pendency of his appeal

"[A] bsent a saving clause, a defendant is entitled to the benefit of a more recent statute which mitigates the punishment for the offense or decriminalizes the conduct altogether.[Citations

It held that `... the common law principles reiterated in Estrada apply a fortiori when criminal sanctions have been completely repealed before a criminal conviction becomes final

Where the amending statute mitigates punishment and there is no saving clause the rule is that the amended statute will apply retroactively

—the Legislature amended the statute under which the defendants were charged during the pendency of their appeals.(Ibid.)

As Bates points out, the Estrada exception has been applied in numerous contexts where the punishment for a particular crime has been lightened, the elements of proof required to convict a defendant of a particular crime have been broadened, or the defenses available to a defendant for a particular crime have been expanded

Certainly, the mere fact that a court has already addressed an issue in a case poses no insuperable constitutional bar to legislative activity affecting resolution of that issue