Cite as: 511 U. S. 1 (1994)
Opinion of Blackmun, J.
concurring in part and concurring in judgment). But even assuming this "hesitate to act" language is in some way helpful to a jury in understanding the meaning of reasonable doubt, the existence of an "alternative" and accurate definition of reasonable doubt somewhere in the instruction does not render the instruction lawful if it is "reasonably likely" that the jury would rely on the faulty definition during its deliberations. Boyde, 494 U. S., at 380. Cage itself contained proper statements of the law with respect to what is required to convict or acquit a defendant, but this language could not salvage the instruction since it remained reasonably likely that, despite the proper statements of law, the jury understood the instruction to require "a higher degree of doubt than is required for acquittal under the reasonable doubt standard." 498 U. S., at 41.
In my view, the predominance of potentially misleading language in Victor's instruction made it likely that the jury interpreted the phrase "substantial doubt" to mean that a "large" doubt, as opposed to a merely reasonable doubt, is required to acquit a defendant. It seems that a central purpose of the instruction is to minimize the jury's sense of responsibility for the conviction of those who may be innocent. The instruction goes out of its way to assure jurors that "[y]ou may be convinced of the truth of a fact beyond a reasonable doubt and yet be fully aware that possibly you may be mistaken"; and then, after acquainting jurors with the possibility that their consciences will be unsettled after convicting the defendant, the instruction states that the jurors should feel free to convict based on the "strong probabilities of the case." Viewed as a whole, the instruction is geared toward assuring jurors that although they may be mistaken, they are to make their decision on those "strong probabilities," and only a "substantial doubt" of a defendant's guilt should deter them from convicting.
The majority dismisses the potentially harmful effects of the "strong probabilities" language on the ground that a
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