Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/529bv.pdf
Page Number: 635.0

529US2

Unit: $U52

[09-26-01 10:36:40] PAGES PGT: OPIN

560

CARMELL v. TEXAS

Ginsburg, J., dissenting

the accused could be convicted, like any other defendant, on
the basis of a guilty plea or a voluntary confession. Article
38.07, in other words, does not deﬁne “sexual assault proven
by corroborated victim testimony” as a distinct offense from
“sexual assault.” Rather, the measure operates only to re-
strict the State’s method of proving its case.5

And it does so without affecting in any way the burden of
persuasion that the prosecution must satisfy to support a
conviction. Under both the old and new versions of the stat-
ute, the applicable standard is proof beyond a reasonable
doubt. The amendment in 1993 that repealed the corrobora-
tion requirement for victims between the ages of 14 and 18
did nothing to change that standard.

The Court recognizes that Article 38.07 does not affect the
applicable burden of persuasion, see ante, at 539, but several
times it asserts that the amended version of the statute
“changed the quantum of evidence necessary to sustain a
conviction,” ante, at 530 (emphasis added). See also ante, at
531 (amended law “permitted petitioner to be convicted with
less than the previously required quantum of evidence”);
ante, at 532–533 (amended law “[r]educ[es] the quantum of
evidence necessary to meet the burden of proof ” (emphases
added)).
If by the word “quantum” the Court means to
refer to the burden of persuasion, these statements are
simply incorrect and contradict the Court’s own acknowledg-
ment. And if, as appears more likely, “quantum” refers to
some required quantity or amount of proof, the Court is also
wrong. The partial repeal of Article 38.07’s corroboration
requirement did not change the quantity of proof necessary
to convict in every case, for the simple reason that Texas has
never required the prosecution to introduce any particular

5 By the same reasoning, the repeal of the corroboration requirement
for victims between the ages of 14 and 18 plainly did not deprive sexual
assault defendants of any defense they previously enjoyed.