Wright v. West, 505 U.S. 277, 21 (1992)

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Cite as: 505 U. S. 277 (1992)

O'Connor, J., concurring in judgment

it does not affirmatively appear in the record—that the trier of fact resolved any such conflicts in favor of the prosecution, and must defer to that resolution," ibid. Under these standards, we think it clear that the trial record contained sufficient evidence to support West's conviction.

Having granted relief on West's Jackson claim, the Court of Appeals declined to address West's additional claim that he was entitled to a new trial, as a matter of due process, on the basis of newly discovered evidence. See 931 F. 2d, at 271, n. 9. As that claim is not properly before us, we decline to address it here. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

It is so ordered.

Justice White, concurring in the judgment.

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (1979), required the federal courts to deny the requested writ of habeas corpus if, under the Jackson standard, there was sufficient evidence to support West's conviction, which, as the principal opinion amply demonstrates, see ante, at 295-296 and this page, there certainly was.

Justice O'Connor, with whom Justice Blackmun and Justice Stevens join, concurring in the judgment.

I agree that the evidence sufficiently supported respondent's conviction. I write separately only to express disagreement with certain statements in Justice Thomas' extended discussion, ante, at 285-295, of this Court's habeas corpus jurisprudence.

First, Justice Thomas errs in describing the pre-1953 law of habeas corpus. Ante, at 285. While it is true that a state prisoner could not obtain the writ if he had been provided a full and fair hearing in the state courts, this rule governed the merits of a claim under the Due Process Clause. It was not a threshold bar to the consideration of

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