Court Opinion

ID: 9471513
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 03:34:31.363815+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:42:26.889506
License: Public Domain

NATHANIEL R. JONES, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
My reading of the jury instructions differs from the majority’s in that I construe the trial court’s continual reiteration of the word “prove” during the course of explaining the respective burdens of proof of the parties to impose the same burden upon the defendant that is imposed upon the prosecution. It is upon this basis that I enter my dissent.
The majority’s analysis overlooks the focal point of the jury instruction which consisted of the following:
If the defendant brings in evidence of self-defense such that the jury is unable to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the State has proved each element of the crime of murder beyond a reasonable doubt, then your verdict must be for the Defendant — that is, not guilty. If, on the other hand, you find that the state has proved each and every element of the crime of murder beyond a reasonable doubt and the Defendant did not act in self-defense, then your verdict must be guilty of the charge.
You are further instructed that even though you find the Defendant has not proved self-defense such as would raise a reasonable doubt of the guilt of the Defendant on the charge of murder, the State still must prove each and every element of the crime of murder beyond a reasonable doubt.
My reading of this jury instruction casts serious doubt upon the manner in which a reasonable jury would have interpreted it. The constant reiteration of the reasonable doubt standard injects a troubling element of confusion. The trial court’s explanation that the defendant must prove or establish self-defense, when combined with the repeated articulation of the proof beyond a reasonable doubt standard could have been interpreted in a number of ways. Although a reasonable juror might have remembered the court’s initial instruction that the defendant had only the burden of going forward, I think a more probably hypothesis is that the jury construed the defendant’s burden to be that of proving self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. The court’s failure to explain or define the burden of going forward, as well as its failure to make clear that the jury need not find that self-defense had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt to find the defendant not guilty, enhances the possibility of an erroneous interpretation on the part of the jury.
I believe that the jury instructions quoted above imposed a heavier burden of proof upon the appellant than Ohio law permitted. After the jurors had begun deliberating, they requested that the court reinstruct them as to the definitions of self-defense and murder. Accordingly, the court gave a supplemental instruction essentially reciting the original instruction in part, stating that “[t]he burden of going forward with the evidence of an affirmative defense is on the accused, and the affirmative defense of self-defense, if established, is a complete defense to the charge of murder or also to the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter.” Upon my review of the entire jury charge, I conclude that the court’s instruction that the defendant must prove and establish self-defense, implies that he was required to prove self-defense just as the state was required to prove the elements of *1302the crime. See Berrier v. Egeler, 583 F.2d 515 (6th Cir.1978). As such, the possibility that the jury applied the wrong burden of proof to the defendant’s assertion of self-defense violates Ohio state law. See State v. Robinson, 47 Ohio St.2d 103, 351 N.E.2d 88 (1976).
Moreover, I also construe the instructions to raise questions of fundamental fairness such that a constitutional violation was committed. When Congress enacted 28 U.S.C. § 2254, the federal habeas corpus statute, it conferred upon federal courts the responsibility “for determining whether state convictions have been secured in accord with federal constitutional law.” Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 323, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2791, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). A mere error in the application of state law, does not constitute a due process violation and, consequently, it is not a cognizable claim for purposes of obtaining habeas corpus relief. Engel v. Isaac, 456 U.S. 107, 102 S.Ct. 1558, 1568 n. 21, 71 L.Ed.2d 783 (1982); Bell v. Arn, 536 F.2d 123, 125 (6th Cir.1976); Reese v. Cardwell, 410 F.2d 1125 (6th Cir.1976). However, errors of state law that are so grossly erroneous that they “impugn fundamental fairness,” do raise constitutional questions that are appropriate for habeas relief. See, e.g., Maglaya v. Buckhoe, 515 F.2d 265, 268 (6th Cir.1975); Gemmel v. Buchkoe, 358 F.2d 338, 340 (6th Cir.1966); Handley v. Pitts, 491 F.Supp. 597, 599 (E.D.Tenn.1978), aff’d., 623 F.2d 23 (6th Cir.1980). Thus, when the question at issue alludes to “notions of what is fair and right and just,” Solesbee v. Balkcom, 339 U.S. 9, 16, 70 S.Ct. 457, 460, 94 L.Ed. 604 (1950) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting), fundamental fairness is implicated such that the inquiry has constitutional due process ramifications. In the instant case, I am satisfied that a constitutional violation has occurred such that habeas relief is warranted.
The Supreme Court has held that the due process clause requires the state in criminal prosecutions to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970). The Court has further construed the reasonable doubt standard to be a prime instrument for reducing the risk of convictions that rest on factual error and to “provide concrete substance for the presumption of innocence.” Id. at 363, 90 S.Ct. at 1072. An even more important reason underlying this standard stems from the margin of error that is always present in litigation, as the Court explained:
“Due process commands that no man shall lose his liberty unless the Government has borne the burden of ... convincing the factfinder of his guilt.” To this end, the reasonable-doubt standard is indispensable, for it “impresses on the trier of fact the necessity of reaching a subjective state of certitude of the facts in issue.”
Id. at 364, 90 S.Ct. at 1072 (citations omitted). Accord Hankerson v. North Carolina, 432 U.S. 233, 241, 97 S.Ct. 2339, 2344, 53 L.Ed.2d 306 (1977). The due process clause has also been construed to impose a greater burden on the prosecution than that which is imposed upon the defendant to assert an affirmative defense. Therefore, the manner in which the burden of proof is allocated necessarily affects whether due process has been afforded a criminal defendant.
The rationale underlying this theory of unequal allocations grew out of the presumption of innocence. As the Supreme Court has recognized, “[t]he presumption of innocence is a doctrine that allocates the burden of proof in criminal trials.” Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 533, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 1870, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979). Since the accused is entitled to this presumption of innocence at the outset of a trial, the prosecution bears a heavy burden in proving that he is guilty. The principle of imposing unequal allocation of burdens upon the prosecution and the accused has evolved from the notion that a defendant need not prove his innocence. Thus, the prosecution must bear a heavier burden than the accused, otherwise the presumption of innocence would be rendered a nullity. Accord Taylor v. Kentucky, 436 U.S. 478, 483-84 n. 12, 98 S.Ct. 1930, 1934 n. 12, 56 L.Ed.2d 468 (1978).
*1303Since the jury instructions given below1 could be construed to impose equal burdens of proof upon the prosecution and the defense, I believe that they deprive the appellant of due process of law. Accord State v. Muscatello, 57 Ohio App.2d 231, 249-51, 387 N.E.2d 627, 640-41, aff’d, 55 Ohio St.2d 201, 378 N.E.2d 738 (1978). Accordingly, I would reverse the judgment of the lower court.