Cite as: 508 U. S. 275 (1993)
Rehnquist, C. J., concurring
ing whether constitutional error had a prejudicial impact on the outcome of a case. See, e. g., Rose, supra, at 582, n. 11. The Court concludes that the situation at hand is fundamentally different, though, because, in the case of a constitutionally deficient reasonable-doubt instruction, "the entire premise of Chapman [harmless-error] review is simply absent." Ante, at 280.
Where the jury views the evidence from the lens of a defective reasonable-doubt instruction, the Court reasons, there can be no factual findings made by the jury beyond a reasonable doubt in which an appellate court can ground its harmless-error analysis. See ante, at 280-281. The Court thus distinguishes our cases in which we have found jury instructions that create an unconstitutional presumption regarding an element of the offense subject to harmless-error review. In Rose v. Clark, supra, for example, we held that harmless-error analysis may be applied in reviewing instructions that violate the principles of Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U. S. 510 (1979), and Francis v. Franklin, 471 U. S. 307 (1985). The "malice instruction" in Rose shifted the burden of proof on the issue of intent, in violation of due process under our decision in Sandstrom. Because the jury was instructed to presume malice from certain predicate facts, and it was required to find those facts beyond a reasonable doubt, we held that the Sandstrom error was amenable to harmless-error analysis. 478 U. S., at 580. See also Connecticut v. Johnson, 460 U. S. 73, 96-97 (1983) (Powell, J., dissenting).
There are many similarities between the instructional error in Rose and the one in this case. In the first place, neither error restricted the defendants' "opportunity to put on evidence and make argument to support [their] claim[s] of innocence." 478 U. S., at 579. Moreover, "[u]nlike [structural] errors such as judicial bias or denial of counsel, the error[s] . . . did not affect the composition of the record." Id., at 579, n. 7. Finally, neither error removed an element of the offense from the jury's consideration, id., at 580, n. 8,
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