398
Opinion of the Court
of actual innocence was not cognizable because, under Townsend v. Sain, 372 U. S. 293, 317 (1963), "the existence merely of newly discovered evidence relevant to the guilt of a state prisoner is not a ground for relief on federal habeas corpus." See 954 F. 2d, at 1034.4 We granted certiorari, 502 U. S. 1085 (1992), and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed petitioner's execution. We now affirm.
Petitioner asserts that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution prohibit the execution of a person who is innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. This proposition has an elemental appeal, as would the similar proposition that the Constitution prohibits the imprisonment of one who is innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. After all, the central purpose of any system of criminal justice is to convict the guilty and free the innocent. See United States v. Nobles, 422 U. S. 225, 230 (1975). But the evidence upon which petitioner's claim of innocence rests was not produced at his trial, but rather eight years later. In any system of criminal justice, "innocence" or "guilt" must be determined in some sort of a judicial proceeding. Petitioner's showing of innocence, and indeed his constitutional claim for relief based upon that showing, must be evaluated in the light of the previous proceedings in this case, which have stretched over a span of 10 years.
A person when first charged with a crime is entitled to a presumption of innocence, and may insist that his guilt be established beyond a reasonable doubt. In re Winship, 397 U. S. 358 (1970). Other constitutional provisions also have the effect of ensuring against the risk of convicting an inno-4 After the Court of Appeals vacated the stay of execution, petitioner attached a new affidavit by Raul, Junior, to his petition for rehearing, which was denied. The affidavit alleges that during petitioner's trial, various law enforcement officials and the Hidalgo County Sheriff told Raul, Junior, not to say what happened on the night of the shootings and threatened his family.
Page: Index Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007