Court Opinion

ID: 9492912
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 14:53:21.516122+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:55:33.204871
License: Public Domain

WIDENER, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
I join in all of Judge King’s dissenting opinion except part III thereof. I would give the following instruction:
Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is such as you would be willing to rely and act upon without hesitation in the most important of your own affairs.
This instruction, in almost the same words, has been approved by the Second Circuit. See United States v. Birbal, 62 F.3d 456, 459-460 (2d Cir.1995). More importantly, a similar instruction emphasizing the use of the word hesitate was suggested by the Supreme Court as providing a clearer definition of reasonable doubt in Holland v. United States, 348 U.S. 121, 140, 75 S.Ct. 127, 99 L.Ed. 150 (1954).