350
O'Connor, J., concurring in judgment
Our cases do not provide a clear answer to that question. Due process, of course, requires that the State prove every element of a criminal offense beyond a reasonable doubt. In re Winship, 397 U. S. 358 (1970). This straightforward proposition has spawned a number of corollary rules, among them the rule that the State may not "us[e] evidentiary presumptions in a jury charge that have the effect of relieving the State of its burden of persuasion beyond a reasonable doubt of every essential element of a crime." Francis v. Franklin, 471 U. S. 307, 313 (1985). Accord, Rose v. Clark, 478 U. S. 570, 580 (1986); Connecticut v. Johnson, 460 U. S., at 84-85 (plurality opinion); Sandstrom, supra, at 521-523. The Court of Appeals extended these cases—which themselves are the "logical extension" of Winship, see Rose, supra, at 580—one step further. It read them as standing for the proposition that any instruction that leads "the jury to ignore exculpatory evidence in finding the defendant guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt" violates due process; it disregarded as meaningless the distinction between elements of the offense and affirmative defenses. 954 F. 2d, at 453.
Our opinions in Martin v. Ohio, 480 U. S. 228 (1987), and Patterson v. New York, 432 U. S. 197 (1977), however, make clear that at least in some circumstances the distinction is not meaningless. In Patterson, we held that the Due Process Clause did not require the State to prove the absence of the affirmative defense of extreme emotional disturbance beyond a reasonable doubt; the State instead could place the burden of proving the defense on the defendant. Id., at 210. We reaffirmed this holding in Martin, supra, and rejected petitioner's claim that requiring her to prove self-defense by a preponderance of the evidence shifted to petitioner the burden of disproving the elements of the crime. Id., at 233- 234. (Although Martin was decided after Taylor's conviction became final, its holding, like Boyde's, was not a new rule.)
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