Task: sc_petitionerstate

What follows is an opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States. Your task is to identify the state associated with the petitioner. If the petitioner is a federal court or federal judge, note the "state" as the United States. The same holds for other federal employees or officials.

Mr. Justice Stevens
delivered the opinion of the Court.
A New York statute provides that, with certain exceptions, the presence of a firearm in an automobile is presumptive evidence of its illegal possession by all persons then occupying the vehicle. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that respondents may challenge the constitutionality of this statute in a federal habeas corpus proceeding and that the statute is “unconstitutional on its face.” 568 F. 2d 998, 1009. We granted certiorari to review these holdings and also to consider whether the statute is constitutional in its application to respondents. 439 U. S. 815.
Four persons, three adult males (respondents) and a 16-year-old girl (Jane Doe, who is not a respondent here), were jointly tried on charges that they possessed two loaded handguns, a loaded machinegun, and over a pound of heroin found in a Chevrolet in which they were riding when it was stopped for speeding on the New York Thruway shortly after noon on March 28, 1973. The two large-caliber handguns, which together with their ammunition weighed approximately six pounds, were seen through the window of the car by the investigating police officer. They were positioned crosswise in an open handbag on either the front floor or the front seat of the car on the passenger side where Jane Doe was sitting. Jane Doe admitted that the handbag was hers.' The machine-gun and the heroin were discovered in the trunk after the police pried it open. The car had been borrowed from the driver’s brother earlier that day; the key to the trunk could not be found in the car or on the person of any of its occupants, although there was testimony that two of the occupants had placed something in the trunk before embarking in the borrowed car. The jury convicted all four of possession of the handguns and acquitted them of possession of the contents of the trunk.
Counsel for all four defendants objected to the introduction into evidence of the two handguns, the machinegun, and the drugs, arguing that the State had not adequately demonstrated a connection between their clients and the contraband. The trial court overruled the objection, relying on the presumption of possession created by the New York statute. Tr. 474-483. Because that presumption does not apply if a weapon is found “upon the person” of one of the occupants of the car, see n. 1, supra, the three male defendants also moved to dismiss the charges relating to the handguns on the ground that the guns were found on the person of Jane Doe. Respondents made this motion both at the close of the prosecution’s case and at the close of all evidence. The trial judge twice denied it, concluding that the applicability of the “upon the person” exception was a question of fact for the jury. Tr. 544-557, 589-590.
At the close of the trial, the judge instructed the jurors that they were entitled to infer possession from the defendants’ presence in the car. He did not make any reference to the “upon the person” exception in his explanation of the statutory presumption, nor did any of the defendants object to this omission or request alternative or additional instructions on the subject.
Defendants filed a post-trial motion in which they challenged the constitutionality of the New York statute as applied in this case. The challenge was made in support of their argument that the evidence, apart from the presumption, was insufficient to sustain the convictions. The motion was denied, id., at 775-776, and the convictions were affirmed by the Appellate Division without opinion. People v. Lemmons, 49 App. Div. 2d 639, 370 N. Y. S. 2d 243 (1975).
The New York Court of Appeals also affirmed. People v. Lemmons, 40 N. Y. 2d 505, 354 N. E. 2d 836 (1976). It rejected the argument that as a matter of law the guns were on Jane Doe’s person because they were in her pocketbook. Although the court recognized that in some circumstances the evidence could only lead to the conclusion that the weapons were in one person’s sole possession, it held that this record presented a jury question on that issue. Since the defendants had not asked the trial judge to submit the question to the jury, the Court of Appeals treated the case as though the jury had resolved this fact question in the prosecution's favor. It therefore concluded that the presumption did apply and that there was sufficient evidence to support the convictions. Id., at 509-512, 354 N. E. 2d, at 839-841. It also summarily rejected the argument that the presumption was unconstitutional as applied in this case. See infra, at 153-154.
Respondents filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York contending that they were denied due process of law by the application of the statutory presumption of possession. The District Court issued the writ, holding that respondents had not “deliberately bypassed” their federal claim by their actions at trial and that the mere presence of two guns in a woman’s handbag in a car could not reasonably give rise to the inference that they were in the possession of three other persons in the car. App. to Pet. for Cert. 33a-36a.
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed, but for different reasons. First, the entire panel concluded that the New York Court of Appeals had decided respondents’ constitutional claim on its merits rather than on any independent state procedural ground that might have barred collateral relief. Then, the majority of the court, without deciding whether the presumption was constitutional as applied in this case, concluded that the statute is unconstitutional on its face because the “presumption obviously sweeps within its compass (1) many occupants who may not know they are riding with a gun (which may be out of their sight), and (2) many who may be aware of the presence of the gun but not permitted access to it.” Concurring separately, Judge Timbers agreed with the District Court that the statute was unconstitutional as applied but considered it improper to reach the issue of the statute’s facial constitutionality. 568 F. 2d, at 1011-1012.
The petition for a writ of certiorari presented three questions: (1) whether the District Court had jurisdiction to entertain respondents’ claim that the presumption is unconstitutional; (2) whether it was proper for the Court of Appeals to decide the facial constitutionality issue; and (3) whether the application of the presumption in this case is unconstitutional. We answer the first question in the affirmative, the second two in the negative. We accordingly reverse.
I
This is the sixth time that respondents have asked a court to hold that it is unconstitutional for the State to rely on the presumption because the evidence is otherwise insufficient to convict them. No court has refused to hear the claim or suggested that it was improperly presented. Nevertheless, because respondents made it for the first time only after the jury had announced its verdict, and because the state courts were less than explicit in their reasons for rejecting it, the question arises whether the New York courts did so on the basis of an independent and adequate state procedural ground that bars the federal courts from addressing the issue on habeas corpus. See Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U. S. 72; Fay v. Noia, 372 U. S. 391, 438. We conclude that there is no support in either the law of New York or the history of this litigation for an inference that the New York courts decided respondents' constitutional claim on a procedural ground, and that the question of the presumption’s constitutionality is therefore properly before us. See Franks v. Delaware, 438 U. S. 154, 161-162; Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U. S. 684, 704-705, and n. (Rehnquist, J., concurring).
New York has no clear contemporaneous-objection policy that applies in this case. No New York court, either in this litigation or in any other case that we have found, has ever expressly refused on contemporaneous-objection grounds to consider a post-trial claim such as the one respondents made. Cf. Wainwright v. Sykes, supra, at 74. Indeed, the rule in New York appears to be that “insufficiency of the evidence” claims may be raised at any time until sentence has been imposed. Moreover, even if New York’s contemporaneous-objection rule did generally bar the type of postverdict insufficiency claim that respondents made, there are at least two judicially created exceptions to that rule that might nonetheless apply in this case.
The conclusion that the New York courts did not rely on a state procedural ground in rejecting respondents’ constitutional claim is supported, not only by the probable unavailability in New York law of any such ground, but also by three aspects of this record. First, the prosecution never argued to any state court that a procedural default had occurred. This omission surely suggests that the New York courts were not thinking in procedural terms when they decided the issue. Indeed, the parties did not even apprise the appellate courts of the timing of respondents’ objection to the presumption; a procedural default would not have been discovered, therefore, unless those courts combed the transcript themselves. If they did so without any prompting from the parties and based their decision on what they found, they surely would have said so.
Second, the trial court ruled on the merits when it denied respondents’ motion to set aside the verdict. Tr. 775-776. Because it was not authorized to do so unless the issue was preserved for appeal, the trial court implicitly decided that there was no procedural default. The most logical inference to be drawn from the Appellate Division’s unexplained affirmance is that that court accepted not only the judgment but also the reasoning of the trial court.
Third, it is apparent on careful examination that the New York Court of Appeals did not ignore respondents’ constitutional claim in its opinion. Instead, it summarily rejected the claim on its merits. That court had been faced with the issue in several prior cases and had always held the presumption constitutional. Indeed, the State confined its brief on the subject in the Court of Appeals to a string citation of some of those cases. Respondent’s Brief in the Court of Appeals, p. 9. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Court of Appeals confined its discussion of the issue to a reprise of the explanation that its prior cases have traditionally given for the statute in holding it constitutional and a citation of two of those cases. 40 N. Y. 2d, at 509-511, 354 N. E. 2d, at 839-840, citing People v. McCaleb, 25 N. Y. 2d 394, 255 N. E. 2d 136 (1969); People v. Leyva, 38 N. Y. 2d 160, 341 N. E. 2d 546 (1975). Although it omits the word “constitutional,” the most logical interpretation of this discussion is that it was intended as a passing and summary disposition of an issue that had already been decided on numerous occasions. This interpretation is borne out by the fact that the dissenting members of the Court of Appeals unequivocally addressed the merits of the constitutional claim and by the fact that three Second Circuit Judges, whose experience with New York practice is entitled to respect, concluded that the State’s highest court had decided the issue on its merits. 568 F. 2d, at 1000. See Bishop v. Wood, 426 U. S. 341, 345-346; Huddleston v. Dwyer, 322 U. S. 232, 237.
Our conclusion that it was proper for the federal courts to address respondents’ claim is confirmed by the policies informing the “adequate state ground” exception to habeas corpus jurisdiction. The purpose of that exception is to accord appropriate respect to the sovereignty of the States in our federal system. Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U. S., at 88. But if neither the state legislature nor the state courts indicate that a federal constitutional claim is barred by some state procedural rule, a federal court implies no disrespect for the State by entertaining the claim.
II
Although 28 U. S. C. § 2254 authorizes the federal courts to entertain respondents’ claim that they are being held in custody in violation of the Constitution, it is not a grant of power to decide constitutional questions not necessarily subsumed within that claim. Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. They have the authority to adjudicate specific controversies between adverse litigants over which and over whom they have jurisdiction. In the exercise of that authority, they have a duty to decide constitutional questions when necessary to dispose of the litigation before them. But they have an equally strong duty to avoid constitutional issues that need not be resolved in order to determine the rights of the parties to the case under consideration. E. g., New York Transit Authority v. Beazer, 440 U. S. 568, 582-583.
A party has standing to challenge the constitutionality of a statute only insofar as it has an adverse impact on his own rights. As a general rule, if there is no constitutional defect in the application of the statute to a litigant, he does not have standing to argue that it would be unconstitutional if applied to third parties in hypothetical situations. Broadrick v. Oklahoma, 413 U. S. 601, 610 (and cases cited). A limited exception has been recognized for statutes that broadly prohibit speech protected by the First Amendment. Id., at 611-616. This exception has been justified by the overriding interest in removing illegal deterrents to the exercise of the right of free speech. E. g., Gooding v. Wilson, 405 U. S. 518, 520; Dombrowski v. Pfister, 380 U. S. 479, 486. That justification, of course, has no application to a statute that enhances the legal risks associated with riding in vehicles containing dangerous weapons.
In this case, the Court of Appeals undertook the task of deciding the constitutionality of the New York statute “on its face.” Its conclusion that the statutory presumption was arbitrary rested entirely on its view of the fairness of applying the presumption in hypothetical situations — situations, indeed, in which it is improbable that a jury would return a conviction, or that a prosecution would ever be instituted. We must accordingly inquire whether these respondents had standing to advance the arguments that the Court of Appeals considered decisive. An analysis of our prior cases indicates that the answer to this inquiry depends on the type of presumption that is involved in the case.
Inferences and presumptions are a staple of our adversary system of factfinding. It is often necessary for the trier of fact to determine the existence of an element of the crime— that is, an “ultimate” or “elemental” fact — from the existence of one or more “evidentiary” or “basic” facts. E. g., Barnes v. United States, 412 U. S. 837, 843-844; Tot v. United States, 319 U. S. 463, 467; Mobile, J. & K. C. R. Co. v. Turnipseed, 219 U. S. 35, 42. The value of these evidentiary devices, and their validity under the Due Process Clause, vary from case to case, however, depending on the strength of the connection between the particular basic and elemental facts involved and on the degree to which the device curtails the factfinder’s freedom to assess the evidence independently. Nonetheless, in criminal cases, the ultimate test of any device’s constitutional validity in a given case remains constant: the device must not undermine the factfinder’s responsibility at trial, based on evidence adduced by the State, to find the ultimate‘facts beyond a reasonable doubt. See In re Winship, 397 U. S. 358, 364; Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U. S., at 702-703, n. 31.
The most common evidentiary device is the entirely permissive inference or presumption, which allows — but does not require — the trier of fact to infer the elemental fact from proof by the prosecutor of the basic one and which places no burden of any kind on the defendant. See, e. g., Barnes v. United States, supra, at 840 n. 3. In that situation the basic fact may constitute prima facie evidence of the elemental fact. See, e. g., Turner v. United States, 396 U. S. 398, 402 n. 2. When reviewing this type of device, the Court has required the party challenging it to demonstrate its invalidity as applied to him. E. g., Barnes v. United States, supra, at 845; Turner v. United States, supra, at 419-424. See also United States v. Gainey, 380 U. S. 63, 67-68, 69-70. Because this permissive presumption leaves the trier of fact free to credit or reject the inference and does not shift the burden of proof, it affects the application of the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard only if, under the facts of the case, there is no rational way the trier could make the connection permitted by the inference. For only in that situation is there any risk that an explanation of the permissible inference to a jury, or its use by a jury, has caused the presumptively rational fact-finder to make an erroneous factual determination.
A mandatory presumption is a far more troublesome evi-dentiary device. For it may affect not only the strength of the “no reasonable doubt” burden but also the placement of that burden; it tells the trier that he or they must find the elemental fact upon proof of the basic fact, at least unless the defendant has come forward with some evidence to rebut the presumed connection between the two facts. E. g., Turner v. United States, supra, at 401-402, and n. 1; Leary v. United States, 395 U. S. 6, 30; United States v. Romano, 382 U. S. 136, 137, and n. 4, 138, 143; Tot v. United States, supra, at 469. In this situation, the Court has generally examined the presumption on its face to determine the extent to which the basic and elemental facts coincide. E. g., Turner v. United States, supra, at 408-418; Leary v. United States, supra, at 45-52; United States v. Romano, supra, at 140-141; Tot v. United States, 319 U. S., at 468. To the extent that the trier of fact is forced to abide by the presumption, and may not reject it based on an independent evaluation of the particular facts presented by the State, the analysis of the presumption’s constitutional validity is logically divorced from those facts and based on the presumption’s accuracy in the run of cases. It is for this reason that the Court has held it irrelevant in analyzing a mandatory presumption, but not in analyzing a purely permissive one, that there is ample evidence in the record other than the presumption to support a conviction. E. g., Turner v. United States, 396 U. S., at 407; Leary v. United States, 395 U. S., at 31-32; United States v. Romano, 382 U. S., at 138-139.
Without determining whether the presumption in this case was mandatory, the Court of Appeals analyzed it on its face as if it were. In fact, it was not, as the New York Court of Appeals had earlier pointed out. 40 N. Y. 2d, at 510-511, 354 N. E. 2d, at 840.
The trial judge’s instructions make it clear that the presumption was merely a part of the prosecution’s case, that it gave rise to a permissive inference available only in certain circumstances, rather than a mandatory conclusion of possession, and that it could be ignored by the jury even if there was no affirmative proof offered by defendants in rebuttal. The judge explained that possession could be actual or constructive, but that constructive possession could not exist without the intent and ability to exercise control or dominion over the weapons. He also carefully instructed the jury that there is a mandatory presumption of innocence in favor of the defendants that controls unless it, as the exclusive trier of fact, is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants possessed the handguns in the manner described by the judge. In short, the instructions plainly directed" the jury to consider all the circumstances tending to support or contradict the inference that all four occupants of the car had possession of the two loaded handguns and to decide the matter for itself without regard to how much evidence the defendants introduced.
“In other words, these presumptions or this latter presumption upon proof of the presence of the machine gun and the hand weapons, you may infer and draw a conclusion that such prohibited weapon was possessed by each of the defendants who occupied the automobile at the time when such instruments were found. The presumption or presumptions is effective only so long as there is no substantial evidence contradicting the conclusion flowing from the presumption, and the presumption is said to disappear when such contradictory evidence is adduced.” Id., at 743.
“The presumption or presumptions which I discussed with the jury relative to the drugs or weapons in this case need not be rebutted by affirmative proof or affirmative evidence but may be rebutted by any evidence or lack of evidence in the case.” Id., at 760.
Our cases considering the validity of permissive statutory presumptions such as the one involved here have rested on an evaluation of the presumption as applied to the record before the Court. None suggests that a court should pass on the constitutionality of this kind of statute “on its face.” It was error for the Court of Appeals to make such a determination in this case.
Ill
As applied to the facts of this case, the presumption of possession is entirely rational. Notwithstanding the Court of Appeals’ analysis, respondents were not “hitchhikers or other casual passengers,” and the guns were neither “a few inches in length” nor “out of [respondents’] sight.” See n. 4, supra, and accompanying text. The argument against possession by any of the respondents was predicated solely on the fact that the guns were in Jane Doe’s pocketbook. But several circumstances — which, not surprisingly, her counsel repeatedly emphasized in his questions and his argument, e. g., Tr. 282-283, 294-297, 306 — made it highly improbable that she was the sole custodian of those weapons.
Even if it was reasonable to conclude that she had placed the guns in her purse before the car was stopped by police, the facts strongly suggest that Jane Doe was not the only person able ’to exercise dominion over them. The two guns were too large to be concealed in her handbag. The bag was consequently open, and part of one of the guns was in plain view, within easy access of the driver of the car and even, perhaps, of the other two respondents who were riding in the rear seat.
Moreover, it is highly improbable that the loaded guns belonged to Jane Doe or that she was solely responsible for their being in her purse. As a 16-year-old girl in the company of three adult men she was the least likely of the four to be carrying one, let alone two, heavy handguns. It is far more probable that she relied on the pocketknife found in her brassiere for any necessary self-protection. Under these circumstances, it was not unreasonable for her counsel to argue and for the jury to infer that when the car was halted for speeding, the other passengers in the car anticipated the risk of a search and attempted to conceal their weapons in a pocketbook in the front seat. The inference is surely more likely than the notion that these weapons were the sole property of the 16-year-old girl.
Under these circumstances, the jury would have been entirely reasonable in rejecting the suggestion — which, incidentally, defense counsel did not even advance in their closing arguments to the jury- — that the handguns were in the sole possession of Jane Doe. Assuming that the jury did reject it, the case is tantamount to one in which the guns were lying on the floor or the seat of the car in the plain view of the three other occupants of the automobile. In such a case, it is surely rational to infer that each of the respondents was fully aware of the presence of the guns and had both the ability and the intent to exercise dominion and control over the weapons. The application of the statutory presumption in this case therefore comports with the standard laid down in Tot v. United States, 319 U. S., at 467, and restated in Leary v. United States, 396 U. S., at 36. For there is a “rational connection” between the basic facts that the prosecution proved and the ultimate fact presumed, and the latter is “more likely than not to flow from” the former.
Respondents argue, however, that the validity of the New York presumption must be judged by a “reasonable doubt” test rather than the “more likely than not” standard employed in Leary. Under the more stringent test, it is argued that a statutory presumption must be rejected unless the evidence necessary to invoke the inference is sufficient for a rational jury to find the inferred fact beyond a reasonable doubt. See Barnes v. United States, 412 U. S., at 842-843. Respondents’ argument again overlooks the distinction between a permissive presumption on which the prosecution is entitled to rely as one not necessarily sufficient part of its proof and a mandatory presumption which the jury must accept even if it is the sole evidence of an element of the offense.
In the latter situation, since the prosecution bears the burden of establishing guilt, it may not rest its case entirely on a presumption unless the fact proved is sufficient to support the inference of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. But in the former situation, the prosecution may rely on all of the evidence in the record to meet the reasonable-doubt standard. There is no more reason to require a permissive statutory presumption to meet a reasonable-doubt standard before it may be permitted to play any part in a trial than there is to require that degree of probative force for other relevant evidence before it may be admitted. As long as it is clear that the presumption is not the sole and sufficient basis for a finding of guilt, it need only satisfy the test described in Leary.
The permissive presumption, as used in this case, satisfied the Leary test. And, as already noted, the New York Court of Appeals has concluded that the record as a whole was sufficient to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The judgment is reversed.
So ordered.
New York Penal Law § 265.15 (3) (McKinney 1967):
“The presence in an automobile, other than a stolen one or a public omnibus, of any firearm, defaced firearm, firearm silencer, bomb, bombshell, gravity knife, switchblade knife, dagger, dirk, stiletto, billy, blackjack, metal knuckles, sandbag, sandclub or slungshot is presumptive evidence of its possession by all persons occupying such automobile at the time such weapon, instrument or appliance is found, except under the following circumstances:
“(a) if such weapon, instrument or appliance is found upon the person of one of the occupants therein; (b) if such weapon, instrument or appliance is found in an automobile which is being operated for hire by a duly licensed driver in the due, lawful and proper pursuit of his trade, then such presumption shall not apply to the driver; or (c) if the weapon so found is a pistol or revolver and one of the occupants, not present under duress, has in his possession a valid license to have and carry concealed the same.”
In addition to the three exceptions delineated in §§265.15 (3)(a)-(c) above as well as the stolen-vehicle and public-omnibus exception in §265.15 (3) itself, §265.20 contains various exceptions that apply when weapons are present in an automobile pursuant to certain military, law enforcement, recreational, and commercial endeavors.
The arrest was made by two state troopers. One officer approached the driver, advised him that he was going to issue a ticket for speeding, requested identification, and returned to the patrol car. After a radio check indicated that the driver was wanted in Michigan on a weapons charge, the second officer returned to the vehicle and placed the driver under arrest. Thereafter, he went around to the right side of the car and, in “open view,” saw a portion of a.45-caliber automatic pistol protruding from the open purse on the floor or the seat. People v. Lemmons, 40 N. Y. 2d 505, 508-509, 354 N. E. 2d 836, 838-839 (1976). He opened the car door, removed that gun, and saw a.38-caliber revolver in the same handbag. He testified that the crosswise position of one or both of the guns kept the handbag from closing. After the weapons were secured, the two remaining male passengers, who had been sitting in the rear seat, and Janie Doe were arrested and frisked. A subsequent search at the police station disclosed a pocketknife and marihuana concealed on Jane Doe’s person. Tr. 187-192, 208-214, 277-278, 291-297, 408.
Early that morning, the four defendants had arrived at the Rochester, N. Y., home of the driver’s sister in a Cadillac. Using her telephone, the driver called their brother, advised him that “his car ran hot” on the way there from Detroit and asked to borrow the Chevrolet so that the four could continue on to New York City. The brother brought the Chevrolet to the sister’s home. He testified that he had recently cleaned out the trunk and had seen no weapons or drugs. The sister also testified, stating that she saw two of the defendants transfer some unidentified item or items from the trunk of one vehicle to the trunk of the other while both cars were parked in her driveway. Id., at 17-19, 69-73, 115-116, 130-131, 193-194.
The majority continued:
“Nothing about a gun, which may be only a few inches in length (e. g., a Baretta or Derringer) and concealed under a seat, in a glove. compartment or beyond the reach of all but one of the car’s occupants, assures that its presence is known to occupants who may be hitchhikers or other casual passengers, much less that they have any dominion or control over it.” 568 F. 2d, at 1007.
Respondents first made the argument in a memorandum of law in support of their unsuccessful post-trial motion to set aside the verdict. App. 36a-38a. That memorandum framed the argument in three parts precisely as respondents would later frame it in their briefs in the Appellate Division and Court of Appeals, see id., at 41a-44a, 50a-52a, and in their petition for a writ of habeas corpus. See id., at 6a-10a: First, “[t]he only evidence” relied upon to convict them was their presence in an automobile in which the two handguns were found. Id., at 35a. Second, but for the presumption of possession, this evidence was “totally insufficient to sustain the conviction.” Id., at 38a. And third, that presumption is “unconstitutional as applied” (or, “ ‘arbitrary/ and hence unconstitutional”) under Leary v. United States, 395 U. S. 6, 36, a case in which this Court established standards for determining the validity under the Due Process Clauses of statutory presumptions in criminal eases. App. 36a. This sufficiency-focused argument on the presumption is amply supported in our case law. E. g., Turner v. United States, 396 U. S. 398, 424 (“[A] conviction resting on [an unconstitutional] presumption cannot be deemed a conviction based on sufficient evidence”). See also Rossi v. United States, 289 U. S. 89, 90.
Although respondents’ memorandum did not cite the provision of the Constitution on which they relied, their citation of our leading case applying that provision, in conjunction with their use of the word “unconstitutional,” left no doubt that they were making a federal constitutional argument. Indeed, by its responses to that argument at every step of the way, the State made clear that it, at least, understood the federal basis for the claim. E. g., Respondent’s Brief and Appendix in the Court of Appeals of the State of New York, p. 9.
Petitioners contend that, in addition to the timing of respondents’ claim and the alleged silence of the New York courts, there is another basis for concluding that those courts rejected respondents’ claim on procedural grounds. Petitioners point out that respondents — having unsuccessfully argued to the trial court (as they would unsuccessfully argue on appeal) that the “upon the person” exception applied as a matter of law in their case — failed either to ask the trial court to instruct the jury to consider the exceptions or to object when the court omitted the instruction. They further point out that the majority of the New York Court of Appeals, after concluding that the exception’s application was a jury question in this case, refused to review the trial court’s omission of an instruction on the issue because of respondents’ failure to protest that omission. 40 N. Y. 2d, at 512, 354 N. E. 2d, at 841.
Petitioners argue that we should infer from the Court of Appeals’ explicit treatment of this state-law claim — a claim never even pressed on appeal — how that court implicitly treated the federal claim that has been the crux of respondents’ litigation strategy from its post-trial motion to the present. There is no basis for the inference. Arguing on appeal that an instruction that was never requested should have been given is far more disruptive to orderly judicial proceedings than arguing in a post-trial motion that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. Moreover, that the Court of Appeals felt compelled expressly to reject, on procedural grounds, an argument never made is hardly proof that they would silently reject on similar grounds an argument that was forcefully made. As we discuss, infra, at 153-154, it is clear that the court did address the constitutional question and did so on the merits, albeit summarily.
Petitioners also contend that respondents, having failed to seek a jury determination based on state law that the presumption does not apply, may not now argue that the presumption is void as a matter of federal constitutional law. The argument is unpersuasive. Respondents’ failure to demand an instruction on the state-law exception is no more and no less than a concession on their part that as a matter of state law the guns were not found “upon the person” of any occupant of the car as that phrase is interpreted by the New York courts, and therefore, again as a matter of state law, that the presumption of possession is applicable. The New York Court of Appeals reviewed the ease in that posture, and we do the same.
Petitioners advance a second reason why there is no federal jurisdiction in this case. Respondents were convicted on the basis of a statutory presumption they argue is unconstitutional. Following the Court of Appeals’ affirmance of their conviction, they could have appealed that decision to this Court under 28 U. S. C. § 1257 (2) and thereby forced a binding federal disposition of the matter. Because respondents failed to do so, petitioners argue that respondents waived any right to federal review of the decision on habeas corpus.
In Fay v. Noia, 372 U. S. 391, 435-438, we rejected a similar argument that habeas corpus review was unavailable in advance of a petition for certiorari. See also Stevens v. Marks, 383 U. S. 234, in which the Court entertained a challenge to a state statute in a federal habeas corpus proceeding even though the defendant had not pursued that challenge on appeal to this Court prior to filing his petition for habeas corpus. The analysis of the federal habeas statute that led us to our conclusion in Fay is equally applicable in the present situation. That statute gives federal courts jurisdiction to “entertain an application for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court” if that custody allegedly violates “the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States.” 28 U. S. C. § 2254 (a). The only statutory exception to this jurisdiction arises when the petitioner has failed to exhaust “the remedies available in the courts of the State.” §2254 (b). As was said in Fay with regard to petitions for certiorari under 28 U. S. C. § 125

Question: What state is associated with the petitioner?
年. Alabama
数. Alaska
日. American Samoa
的. Arizona
月. Arkansas
用. California
成. Colorado
名. Connecticut
时. Delaware
件. District of Columbia
一. Federated States of Micronesia
请. Florida
中. Georgia
据. Guam
码. Hawaii
不. Idaho
新. Illinois
文. Indiana
下. Iowa
分. Kansas
入. Kentucky
人. Louisiana
功. Maine
上. Marshall Islands
户. Maryland
为. Massachusetts
间. Michigan
号. Minnesota
取. Mississippi
回. Missouri
在. Montana
页. Nebraska
字. Nevada
有. New Hampshire
个. New Jersey
作. New Mexico
示. New York
出. North Carolina
是. North Dakota
失. Northern Mariana Islands
表. Ohio
除. Oklahoma
加. Oregon
败. Palau
生. Pennsylvania
信. Puerto Rico
类. Rhode Island
置. South Carolina
理. South Dakota
本. Tennessee
息. Texas
行. Utah
定. Vermont
改. Virgin Islands
市. Virginia
期. Washington
以. West Virginia
修. Wisconsin
元. Wyoming
方. United States
录. Interstate Compact
区. Philippines
单. Indian
位. Dakota
Answer:

Answer: 示