Opinion ID: 1194675
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Instruction on Burden of Proof

Text: Because Shamsideen submits that the reference to truth in the sympathy instruction reduced the government's burden of proof, it is helpful to reproduce the district court's detailed instruction on this burden, the substance of which is not challenged by defendant. The court stated: As a result of the defendants' pleas of not guilty, the burden is on the prosecution to prove the guilt of each defendant beyond a reasonable doubt. This burden never shifts to a defendant for the simple reason that the law never imposes upon a defendant in a criminal case the burden or duty of calling any witnesses or producing any evidence. The law presumes the defendants you are considering to be innocent of all the charges against them. I, therefore, instruct you that each defendant you are considering is presumed by you to be innocent throughout your deliberations until such time, if ever, you, as a jury, are satisfied that the Government has proven that particular defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The defendants begin the trial here with a clean slate. This presumption of innocence alone is sufficient to acquit a particular defendant unless you, as jurors, are unanimously convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of his guilt after a careful and impartial consideration of all the evidence in this case. If the Government fails to sustain its burden, you must find the defendants you are considering not guilty. This presumption was with the defendants when the trial began and remains with each of them even now as I speak to you and will continue with each defendant into your deliberations, unless and until you are convinced that the Government has proven that particular defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. I have said the Government must prove each defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The question naturally is: What is a reasonable doubt[?] The words almost define themselves. It is a doubt based upon reason and common sense. It is a doubt that a reasonable person has after carefully weighing all the evidence. It is a doubt which would cause a reasonable person to hesitate to act in a matter of importance in his or her personal life. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt must, therefore, be proof of such a convincing character that a reasonable person would not hesitate to rely and act upon it in the most important of his or her own affairs. A reasonable doubt is not a caprice or a whim, it is not a speculation or a suspicion, it is not an excuse to avoid an unpleasant duty. It is not sympathy. In a criminal case, the burden is at all times upon the Government to prove beyondto prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The law does not require that the Government prove guilt beyond all possible doubt. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is sufficient to convict. This burden never shifts to the defendant, which means it is always the Government's burden to prove each of the elements of the crimes charged beyond a reasonable doubt. If after fair and impartial consideration of all the evidence, you have a reasonable doubt, it is your duty to acquit the defendant you are considering. On the other hand, if after fair and impartial consideration of all the evidence, you are satisfied of a particular defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, you should vote to convict. Trial Tr. at 343-45. Elsewhere in the charge, the court repeatedly alluded to the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to support conviction. The court reiterated this standard when charging on the following points: the jury's obligation to base its verdict on the evidence, the use of circumstantial evidence, the role of inferences, the elements of the crime, defendant Glover's argument about the lack of incriminating fingerprint evidence, defendants' right not to testify, the use of seized evidence, the function of the jury, the jury's duty to acquit if the government failed to carry its burden, and the jury's duty not to be influenced by considerations of punishment. Indeed, throughout the charge, the district court stated no less than twenty-seven times that it was the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.