Cite as: 511 U. S. 1 (1994)
Opinion of the Court
ticularly the emphasized phrases, violated the Due Process Clause. 242 Neb. 306, 310-311, 494 N. W. 2d 565, 569 (1993). Because the last state court in which review could be had considered Victor's constitutional claim on the merits, it is properly presented for our review despite Victor's failure to object to the instruction at trial or raise the issue on direct appeal. See, e. g., Ylst v. Nunnemaker, 501 U. S. 797, 801 (1991).
The instruction given in Victor's case can be traced to two separate lines of cases. Much of the charge is taken from Chief Justice Shaw's Webster instruction. See Carr v. State, 23 Neb. 749, 752-753, 37 N. W. 630, 631-632 (1888) (approving the use of Webster). The rest derives from a series of decisions approving instructions cast in terms of an "actual doubt" that would cause a reasonable person to hesitate to act. See, e. g., Whitney v. State, 53 Neb. 287, 298, 73 N. W. 696, 699 (1898); Willis v. State, 43 Neb. 102, 110-111, 61 N. W. 254, 256 (1894); Polin v. State, 14 Neb. 540, 546-547, 16 N. W. 898, 900-901 (1883). In 1968, a committee appointed by the Nebraska Supreme Court developed model jury instructions; a court rule in effect at the time Victor was tried directed that those instructions were to be used where applicable. Nebraska Jury Instructions ix (1969) (N. J. I.). The model instruction on reasonable doubt, N. J. I. 14.08, is the one given at Victor's trial. (Since Victor was tried, a revised reasonable doubt instruction, N. J. I. 2d Crim. 2.0 (1992), has been adopted, although the prior version may still be used.)
A
Victor's primary argument is that equating a reasonable doubt with a "substantial doubt" overstated the degree of doubt necessary for acquittal. We agree that this construction is somewhat problematic. On the one hand, "substantial" means "not seeming or imaginary"; on the other, it means "that specified to a large degree." Webster's Third New International Dictionary, at 2280. The former is un-
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