Cite as: 508 U. S. 333 (1993)
O'Connor, J., concurring in judgment
This case differs from Martin and Patterson in at least two ways. First, Taylor had only the burden of production and not the burden of persuasion; once he produced sufficient evidence for the issue to go to the jury, the State was required to prove the absence of his defense beyond a reasonable doubt. See Reddick, 123 Ill. 2d, at 197, 526 N. E. 2d, at 146. Second, Taylor's contention does not concern the allocation of burdens of proof; he argues that the jury did not consider his defense at all. Nevertheless, I cannot say that our prior cases compel the rule articulated by the Court of Appeals. At the very least, Martin and Patterson confirm that the rule the Court of Appeals promulgated here goes beyond what we hitherto have said the Constitution requires.
The purpose of Teague is to promote the finality of state-court judgments. When a state court makes a "reasonable, good-faith interpretatio[n]" of our precedents as they exist at the time of decision, that decision should not be overturned on federal habeas review. Butler, 494 U. S., at 413- 414. Whatever the merits of the Court of Appeals' constitutional holding, an issue that is not before us, the Illinois courts were not unreasonable in concluding that the error in Taylor's instructions was not constitutional error. The State is not required to allow the defense of sudden and provoked passion at all, and the State is free to allow it while requiring the defendant to prove it. Martin, supra; Patterson, supra. It is not a begrudging or unreasonable application of these principles to hold that jury instructions that create a reasonable likelihood the jury will not consider the defense do not violate the Constitution.
Because our cases do not resolve conclusively the question whether it violates due process to give an instruction that is reasonably likely to prevent the jury from considering an affirmative defense, or a hybrid defense such as the State of Illinois permits, resolution of the issue on habeas would require us to promulgate a new rule. Like the Court, I be-
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