36
Opinion of Blackmun, J.
"nearly identical instruction" was upheld by the Court a century ago. See ante, at 22, citing Dunbar v. United States, 156 U. S. 185, 199 (1895). But the instruction in Dunbar did not equate reasonable doubt with "substantial doubt," nor did it contain the phrase "moral certainty." As the majority appreciates elsewhere in its opinion, challenged jury instructions must be considered in their entirety. Ante, at 5, quoting Holland, 348 U. S., at 140 (" '[T]aken as a whole, the instructions [must] correctly conve[y] the concept of reasonable doubt to the jury' "). Rather than examining the jury instruction as a whole, the majority parses it, ignoring the relationship between the challenged phrases as well as their cumulative effect.
Considering the instruction in its entirety, it seems fairly obvious to me that the "strong probabilities" language increased the likelihood that the jury understood "substantial doubt" to mean "to a large degree." Indeed, the jury could have a reasonable doubt about a defendant's guilt but still find that the "strong probabilities" are in favor of conviction. Only when a reasonable doubt is understood to be a doubt "to a large degree" does the "strong probabilities" language begin to make sense. A Nebraska Federal District Court recently observed: "The word 'probability' brings to mind terms such as 'chance,' 'possibility,' 'likelihood' and 'plausibility'—none of which appear to suggest the high level of certainty which is required to be convinced of a defendant's guilt 'beyond a reasonable doubt.' " Morley v. Stenberg, 828 F. Supp. 1413, 1422 (1993). All of these terms, however, are consistent with the interpretation of "substantial doubt" as a doubt "to a large degree." A jury could have a large and reasonable doubt about a defendant's guilt but still find the defendant guilty on "the strong probabilities of the case," believing it "likely" that the defendant committed the crime for which he was charged.
To be sure, the instruction does qualify the "strong probabilities" language by noting that "the strong probabilities of
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